


Vampires vs. Dinosaurs

by ArethusaRay



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Primeval
Genre: Anal Sex, BDSM, Biting, Blow Jobs, Consent Issues, Crossover, Crossover Pairings, Demons Made Them Do It, Dinosaurs, Dubious Consent, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, F/M, First Kiss, First Time, Hand Jobs, M/M, Marking, Non Consensual, Rape, Sex Pollen, Sexual Content, Vampires, Wordcount: 10.000-30.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-28
Updated: 2012-11-28
Packaged: 2017-11-19 17:30:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/575813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArethusaRay/pseuds/ArethusaRay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An anomaly opens in Sunnydale, so the crew from the ARC go to investigate. Hijinks ensue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The phone rang and Lester answered it. He knew it would be bad news. It was _always_ bad news. 

“James Lester speaking,” he said in his _I’m much too busy to be bothered by this_ voice. He paused. His eyebrows rose. “Yes, Minister. Yes. Yes, sir, of course. Right away. Certainly, Sir, thank you.” 

_Click._

_Sigh._

He straightened his tie, smoothed his hair, and stepped out of his office. “Right. I need Cutter, Connor, Abby, Jenny and Becker. Now,” he said with some authority. The scientists and soldiers below continued meandering, appearing not to hear him but in reality avoiding his attention. Anyone who had been at the ARC for more than a week knew that tone of voice meant trouble. “You there, Thompkins,” he singled out a soldier.

The soldier paused. “Thomas, Sir.”

“Right. Get Cutter. Tell him I need him in my office. Now.”

Thomas nodded and headed toward Professor Nick Cutter’s office. 

He found him bent over a pile of papers, completely ignoring Connor who was prattling on about comic books or some such nonsense. Thomas stood in the doorway for a moment, waiting to be noticed. When that didn’t happen, he cleared his throat rather loudly.

Nick looked up. “Yes, Thomas?”

“Erm, Lester would like to see you in his office. Connor, too, and Jenny, Abby and Becker if you know where they are.”

“But the anomaly detector is working fine,” Connor said, sounding more than a bit confused. Lester usually only noticed him we’d he’d done something wrong, but the computer hadn’t failed in days at least!

“Thank you, Thomas, we’ll be along in a moment,” Nick replied. Thomas thought he saw a shadow of a smile, that perhaps the professor was just too polite to tell Connor when he was being annoying. Thomas gave a small nod, turned, and walked back down the hall. Nick told Connor to round up the others and meet him in Lester’s office. 

When they’d all gathered Lester handed them each a small envelope and said, “These are plane tickets. We’re going to the States for a bit. Sunnydale, California, to be precise. They’re experiencing some unusual creature attacks that sound like our kind of problem. We’re leaving. Now.”

No one moved. Oddly enough, it was Becker who spoke up. “Sir, are you really suggesting we abandon our efforts here, fly halfway across the world because there have been _possible_ creature attacks in California? Even if it is an anomaly, who’s to say it won’t close while we’re on our way there?”

Lester looked pained. “Yes, Captain, that is _precisely_ what I’m suggesting. Our plane leaves in an hour.” He turned and began gathering papers, expecting his orders to be carried out. No one moved.

“Isn’t it a little more important to continue our work here? We can’t exactly bring the ARC with us, so there’s really nothing we can do that couldn’t be explained over the telephone,” Nick said after a moment.

“The problems we’ll face in Sunnydale will be a bit different from our usual adventures. I do not have time to explain now, but you will do as I say or . . . or you’re fired.” He hoped the frustration in his voice would stop them from pointing out that he really couldn’t fire them.

Nick opened his mouth to argue, closed it, then threw his hands up and turned toward the door. “Come on, everyone, I guess we’re going to California,” he said without much enthusiasm.

Connor grinned and pumped his fist in the air. “Alright! California! Beaches . . . girls in bikinis on beaches . . .”

Abby rolled her eyes. “C’mon, Connor, let’s go pack.” She grabbed his elbow and steered him out of the office. The others resigned themselves to the inevitable, and left to do the same.

***

Meanwhile in Sunnydale, Giles had just hung up the phone. He turned to the gang gathered in his living room. “The Watcher’s Council is sending in specialists.”

“Specialists?” Buffy yelled, scandalized. “Aren’t we the specialists? I’m the slayer and you’re Mr. Smarty-Book Guy! After all we’ve been through, they’re sending in _specialists_?”

“These attacks are different, Buffy. They’re not demons. They appear to be creatures that I am entirely unfamiliar with. And, if you recall, I’ve been kicked out of the Watcher’s Council and, quite frankly, I’m surprised they even took my call.”

“Why _did_ they take your call?” Xander asked. “After all, these creatures mostly seem to be going after vampires. I can’t imagine they’d be too excited to help. After all, aren’t they a rather pro-vamp-killing group?”

“Ordinarily, yes, but these creatures aren’t _killing_ vampires, they’re mutilating them. They’re also mutilating corpses and _something_ is killing people. The death rate here is already pretty high, so when it nearly doubles it is reason for some concern. Even the Council can see that,” Giles replied.

“Besides,” Willow added, “a little help would be nice. Finals are coming up and it would be nice to squeeze some study time into our, well, study time. These creatures haven’t been easy to figure out.”

“Fine. You can all rely on a bunch of out-of-touch British men to solve our problems, but I’m going to actually do something. I might even read a book! The situation is that drastic.” Buffy said.

Giles pointedly ignored her. “The specialists arrive this evening around 8, I expect you to be here to welcome them and, erm, help fill them in on the oddities of Sunnydale.”

***

“Does it seem unfair to anyone else that Lester was the only one of us who got to sit in first class?” Connor asked for at least the twelfth time. “I mean, we’re the ones who do the actual science-y stuff and creature wrangling, he just does paperwork. If anyone deserves the luxury of first class, it’s us.” 

“Give it a rest, Connor!” Abby yelled.

“Guys, enough. You have been bickering since we left. Our host is meeting us and I would like to make a good first impression,” Jenny said, a forced smile glued to her face. It had indeed been a long flight, and while both Nick and Becker had slept most of the way, Jenny had not, and Connor and Abby had been crabby at each other the _entire_ time. Jenny wondered, not for the first time, how it was they managed to live together. Her warning seemed to be enough for now, though, as they made their way to the baggage claim. They collected their luggage and looked for Lester. They found him standing near a pillar, his suit impeccably pressed, looking as nonplussed as always.

“Right,” he said as soon as they approached, “our host is a man named Rupert Giles. He apparently worked in some part of British government stationed here. We should find him and get started right away.”

Connor started to argue but Abby stomped on his foot. They searched the crowd for a bureaucrat- someone who looked like Lester. They spotted a group of people clearly searching for someone as well.

“That’s not him, is it?” Nick whispered to Jenny, pointing at a man who looked nothing whatsoever like Lester. “What would he be doing with that group of teenagers?”

Jenny shrugged, walked toward the man, held out her hand and asked, “Rupert Giles?”

Giles took her hand. “Yes, and you are?”

“Jenny Lewis. How do you do?” This is-“

“James Lester,” Lester said, stepping forward to shake his hand. “And this is my team,” he gestured to the tired looking scientists and soldier behind him, “Professor Nick Cutter, zoologist Abby Maitland, and college drop-out Connor Temple. Our escort is Captain Becker.”

“I’m Buffy Summers,” Buffy said, arms crossed over her chest. “And this is my team, Xander, Willow, Anya, and Giles.” They nodded their heads in turn, except for Giles who just looked embarrassed. 

“ _Your_ team?” Lester sneered.

“I _am_ the slayer.”

“Slayer?”

“Yes,” inserted Giles. “I’m surprised the Council didn’t tell you. Although I suppose they’re still a bit angry with her. It’s fair to warn you that I have absolutely no authority here.”

Lester looked like he had just swallowed a rather large slug. He appraised Buffy, making no effort to hide his dislike. “How old are you?” he asked her.

“19.”

_Hmph._

Willow stepped forward, attempting to break the tension. “Maybe we should head to Giles’ and talk this out. The airport isn’t exactly the most inconspicuous place to discuss secret things.”

“She’s right,” Giles said. I’d like to get moving on this as quickly as possible.

“Yes,” Lester responded, and they headed out.

***

Once they’d settled into Giles’ living room and sufficient amounts of tea and coffee had been distributed, there was a bit of an awkward silence.

“So, is anyone going to explain what’s going on here?” asked Connor.

“I’ll go first,” said Buffy. “We’ve had a string of creature attacks over the past week or so. At first it was just vampires turning up mutilated but not dead. Well, dead, obviously, but not dead-er. Then freshly buried corpses were dug up and eaten. Now more and more people are dying in broad daylight. Pieces of them have turned up, but not whole bodies. We’ve been doing a lot of research, but we can’t find a demon with the right motive. You guys are the experts, what are we dealing with?”

There was a very, _very_ long pause.

Connor was the first to speak. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Everyone started speaking at once until Nick yelled, “Quiet!” When order was restored, he said, “All we have been told is that there are creature attacks. There have been anomalies- rips in the fabric of time that lead to Earth’s past- popping up all over England. These gateways have allowed dinosaurs and other creatures through. It is our job to contain the creatures and to try to figure out a way to stop the anomalies from continuing to open. I don’t know what you might’ve mistaken for vampires, but any ‘demons’ you saw were just dinosaurs.”

Another _very_ long pause.

This time when everyone began talking at once, no one stopped them.

“ _Dinosaurs_? You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Vampires, who do ya think you’re fooling?”

“Do you seriously expect me to believe-“

“Saying it with a straight face-“

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!”

A loud, panicked knocking at the door cut through the tumult. Spike screamed, “Seriously Giles, invite me in! There’s something scary out here!”

“Scarier than chip-in-his head-Spike?” asked Xander. “Is it a mouse or a rather large flower?”

“C’mon, guys, I mean it!” Spike cried.

Buffy sighed. “You may as well let him in. He’s not very useful for us if he’s dust. Well, he’s not very useful as it is . . .” she trailed off.

“Alright, Spike, come on in,” Giles called.

Spike burst through the door and slammed it behind him. “There is something giant and scary behind me. It had large teeth and a scary roar and it is right behind me! Buffy, kill it!”

The Scooby gang was unfazed, but Cutter, Abby, Connor, and Becker were already heading for the door. 

“He’s exaggerating,” Buffy called after them. “Spike here is taking his neutering a bit hard. I wouldn’t get overly concerned.”

But Becker was already digging guns out of his suitcase. Giles reached behind the couch and pulled out a crossbow. Becker tried to suppress a laugh when he saw it. “I thought Americans were known for their love of guns. What is _that_?”

“Some things can’t be stopped with conventional bullets,” Giles responded.

Becker shook his head and passed around the guns. Spike backed away from the door as Becker threw it open. As if on cue, a vampire ran past followed closely by a juvenile tarbosaurus. Becker fired at the charging carnivore. The injured dinosaur shrieked in pain and ran off in the other direction. The vampire stopped running to watch the dinosaur go, relief crossing his lumpy face. Giles reached around Becker and fired the crossbow. His aim was perfect and the vampire turned to dust. Everyone except Spike turned to look at each other and all 11 of them mumbled in unison, “Okay, I believe you.”


	2. Chapter 2

“What the hell was that thing?” Spike cried, breaking everyone’s stupor.

“That was a tarbosaurus, I think,” said Abby, looking to Nick who nodded in conformation. “It looked like a baby. Kinda cute actually. I’m surprised to see it chasing someone. They were supposed to be scavengers.”

“One that small probably has energy to spare and being in an unfamiliar world might change the rules a little,” Nick responded.

“Small? You call that bloody thing small? What constitutes big? And I repeat my question, what the bloody hell was that thing?” Spike yelled again.

Nick sighed. “At only about a meter tall, that tarbosaurus couldn’t have been more than 2 years old. Tarbosauruses are one of the largest tyrannosaurids, cousin of the tyrannosaurus rex, from the late Cretaceous Period.”

“They show up a lot in the fossil record. These guys were all over Asia once upon a time,” Connor chipped in, happy to show off in front of the good looking girls.

“Are you trying to tell me,” Spike said, with not a little disbelief ringing in his voice, “that that was a _dinosaur_?”

“Ah, now he gets it,” said Giles, moving to close the door.

“Shouldn’t we go after it?” asked Becker.

“He’ll probably run home. I think you spooked him a bit,” responded Abby.

Becker looked to Nick, who nodded. “I think she’s right. A little guy like that probably didn’t even mean to wander that far away. He’ll be running back to the anomaly.” He paused. “Speaking of, we need to find it. Lester, will our handhelds even work this far from the ARC?”

Now it was Lester’s turn to sigh. “No. You’re going to have to locate it the old fashioned way. Not that you-“

“Not that this isn’t fun cryptic talk, but what exactly are you doing here, Spike?” Buffy interrupted, earning a rather contemptuous look from Lester and looks of admiration from the other dinosaur hunters. They had never seen Lester cut off mid-sentence before.

Spike frowned for a moment, trying to remember why exactly he had left the safety of Xander’s basement. Then he frowned harder, this time in disgust, when he realized he was thinking of Xander’s basement as “safe.” He jumped as he remembered. “Oh! I was coming to help you, because I’m such a decent guy. There’s a band playing at The Bronze tonight made up of vampires. They play gigs then kill the audience. Thought you might want to, you know, have some fun tonight.” He seemed to suddenly become aware of all the strangers in the room. “Who are these people?”

Buffy looked at the clock on the wall. “If we leave now we can get there before they finish their set. Xander, Willow, Anya, I might need backup since Reilly’s out of town. Spike, I probably won’t stop you from following me.” 

Lester regained his composure. “ _Excuse me_ young lady, we have more important things to cope with right now. We can’t go gallivanting off.”

Buffy glared at him.  
Giles stepped between them and faced Lester, “I think it might be best if Buffy and her friends took care of this problem. I’ll stay with here and we can get started on this, er, anomaly business.”

Nick turned to Abby and Connor. “Why don’t you two go with them? You can learn what you can about these vampires and see if you can see anything unusual. You know what we’re looking for. Captain Becker, please go along and keep them safe.”

Lester uncrossed and re-crossed his arms, realizing he was beaten but unwilling to admit it. Buffy, Willow, Xander, Anya, and Spike grabbed some nearby stakes and headed for the door. Connor, Abby, and Becker looked toward Lester. “Oh, all right,” he said. “Don’t get yourselves killed.”

They smiled and followed the others out the door.

***

They looked almost like a normal group as they walked to The Bronze. Just a group of college age kids having a night out. Connor was probably the only one savoring the experience, though. He had never been part of a cool group on a night out before. Sure, there’s been _Battlestar Galacta_ with Tom and Duncan, but that was hardly the same thing. He caught up to Buffy and Willow who had taken the lead. “So what exactly is _The Bronze_? Some swanky nightspot?”

“Well, it’s the place to be in Sunnydale. All the cool kids hang out there, and some of the not so cool kids, I suppose,” answered Willow. “It’s a place to enjoy music and drinks and just hang out.”

“And with no windows it is often the place for vamp attacks,” added Buffy.

“So how exactly does one kill a vampire?” asked Abby.

Buffy pulled a stake out of her pocket. “One of these, right through the heart.”

Abby smiled. “Well that doesn’t seem too difficult.”

Buffy gave a reproachful look. “Usually they don’t just stand there and let you stake them.”

“Well, no, I figured that, but we’re used to fighting dinosaurs. At least vampires are close to our size, whereas a gorgonopsid has all of the fangs but is 5 times our size.”

“And we can just kill them, right? No worrying about tranquilizers?” asked Becker.

“No real point in tranquilizing a demon. Much easier to just dust ‘em,” said Xander.

“Hey now,” grumbled Spike. 

“Oh you keep quiet. I still don’t know why I haven’t staked you yet,” shot Buffy.

“Wait,” said Connor, leaping away from Spike, “are you telling me _he’s_ a _vampire_?”

“Damn right I’m a vampire. I’m the baddest vampire. I’m just having some problems biting people lately.”

“Some government people put a chip in his brain,” Buffy explained. “Now he can’t hurt people but he can kill demons. For some reason that means he’s been hanging out with us, which is really pretty annoying, actually.”

Before Spike could retort they reached the club. They went in and heard the band starting their first song. 

“They’re pretty good,” Anya said. “It seems a shame to kill them now.”

“They are good,” said Buffy. “We can wait until they finish their set to stake them. May as well have a drink and enjoy their final show.”

They headed over to the bar and each ordered their drinks, Connor and Xandar going last. 

“Hmm.” Connor drummed his fingers on the bar. “I have no idea what I want.” He smiled at the bartender.

“Two of my usual, please,” Xander told the bartender, who gave him a very confused look as he had no idea who Xander was or what his usual might be. He filled two beers and set them on the bar. Xander paid and smiled at Connor. “I like those fingerless gloves, man. Very stylish.”

“Geek shic, all the rage.” Connor took both beers and handed one to Xander. “So are you the nerdy but charming member of your group?”

“Mostly useless but likable? Yeah, that’s me.”

“Me too! Cheers, mate.” Connor clinked glasses with Xander and said in a conspiratorial tone, “So, I can see that all California ladies are attractive, but will they slap me if I try to approach them?”

“Well, good buddy, I think I can help you out there.” Xander sauntered over to a group of three women in halter tops and mini-skirts chatting nearby. “Excuse me ladies. My friend here is from England. He has an accent and everything.”

Connor gave a small wave. “Hi there.”

The three women smiled and converged on Connor. Xander and Connor gave each other the thumbs up. Connor headed onto the dance floor while Xander joined the gang at their table.

“Where’s Connor,” asked Abby, who was sitting with her back to the dance floor. Xander pointed and slipped his arm around Anya. 

“What?” yelped Abby, outraged. “What do they see in him?”

“Is he your boyfriend?” asked Anya. “Because if he is you should really keep better tabs on him. I don’t like to let Xander here out of my sight.”

“Charming, but no, he is absolutely not my boyfriend. Not even close. He’s just such a dork.”

“But he’s a dork with an accent. American girls love guys with accents,” said Willow. 

“Yes they do,” Spike leered. “Ow! What’d you do that for?” He rubbed his shin under the table.

“You annoy me,” responded Buffy, sipping her drink.

“Well fine then. I’m going to go wait by the back door to stop them from leaving when they’re done.” Spike got up and skulked through the dancing bodies toward the stage. The rest turned to watch the band. 

“Alright everyone, I’m Jess and we’re Cats on K. This will be our last song. Be sure to stick around after the show for a special treat,” the lead singer smiled wickedly. The band launched into a cover of “All My Friends Are Dead Now.”

“Well that’s a fitting song for a vampire band,” said Xander. “She’s pretty hot, though. I dig the leopard print mini-skirt/fishnet combo.”

“Xander!” yelled Anya, punching him in the shoulder.

“Not as hot as you, of course!” he said quickly.

The band started to wrap up.

“Okay, guys, let’s stop them before this gets bloody.” Buffy finished her drink and got up. You guys linger here unless things get ugly. I don’t want you getting hurt if you don’t have to. Captain . . . Becker, is it? Can you wait here with them for now?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Good. Just remember, you can only kill a vampire with a wooden stake through the heart or decapitation. Here, take this.” She pulled a small crossbow out of her bag and handed it to him. Becker nodded and stepped between the table and the stage. Buffy slipped away.

The band had stopped playing and headed backstage. Buffy searched the crowd, but so far there was no sign of mischief. And no sign of Spike for that matter . . . 

***

Spike stepped into the alleyway for a smoke. He was halfway through when Jess stepped out behind him. “Spike? Is that really you? What are you doing in Sunnydale?” She slinked around in front of him and took the cigarette out of his hand. She took a long drag and blew it slowly out of the side of her mouth. 

Spike licked his bottom lip. “Jess, I haven’t seen you in ages. How have you been?”

“Oh, you know, living the dream. Where’s Drusilla?”

Spike winced. “We’ve split up.”

“Aw, I’m sorry to hear that.” She dropped the cigarette butt and stepped closer to him. Spike growled deep in his throat, grabbed her shoulders and kissed her hard. Jess growled in return and pushed him up against the wall, her forehead growing ridges as she did. Spike shook his head slightly, allowing it to change as well. Jess ran her hands under his leather trench coat; Spike gripped her ass, lifting her thigh so her leg clutched his waist.

“I wouldn’t put your mouth on that,” Buffy said, stepping out of the club into the alleyway. “You don’t know where it’s been.” Before Jess could turn, Buffy drove a stake through her heart. Jess turned to dust.

“Ugh! Ew! Oh!” Spike yelled, wiping his tongue with his hands. “You got Jess dust in my mouth!”

“What the hell is wrong with you, Spike? We’re supposed to be fighting the forces of evil, not frenching them!”

“I was just having a bit of fun! I was going to stake her eventually.”

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t stake you right now?”

“I can give you three. They’re large and right behind you.”

Buffy swung around to find the rest of the band looking very, very angry. The drummer came at her first. She kicked him in the chest, sending him flying back into the wall. She turned, fists raised, as the other two started after her. She punched the bass player in the face twice and jumped when he turned to dust. Becker was standing in the doorway, crossbow aimed. He gave a small nod and she turned back to the drummer. Except that the drummer was fighting Abby. And Abby was kicking his ass! Buffy was distracted for a moment watching Abby deliver a solid roundhouse kick to the vamp’s head, despite him being a good foot taller than her. Taking advantage of her distraction, the guitar player reached his arm around her throat and leaned in to bite. She recovered quickly, flipping him over her shoulder and onto his back. When he stood she had a stake ready and quickly thrust it into his heart. She turned back to Abby and the drummer, just in time to see Abby punch him hard in the jaw then duck as Becker fired the crossbow. 

It was over in less than five minutes. 

Becker turned to the door. “Alright, guys, it’s finished.”

Willow, Anya, Xander, and Connor burst through the door. Connor ran right to Abby.

“Are you alright?” he asked, looking her up and down.

“I’m fine,” she responded shortly. “Too busy dancing with those skanks to notice there was a fight, were you?”

“Hey, now,” Connor muttered, looking hurt.

Buffy walked over to Becker and stuck out her hand. “Nice work, Captain.”

“You, too, Slayer.”

Buffy turned to the others. “It’s late. I think we should all get some sleep and work on the larger problem tomorrow.” She gestured to Connor, Abby, and Becker. “I imagine Giles already brought your stuff to the hotel. It’s on the way to our dorm. C’mon.”

One by one they nodded, the weight of the day settling on their shoulders. 

“Oh, one more thing.” Buffy turned to Spike, squared her shoulders, drew her arm back, and punched him directly in the temple. He crumpled against the dumpster. “Now we can go.”

They headed out of the alley and into the night.


	3. Chapter 3

They reconvened in Giles’ living room the next morning. Everyone was tired and a bit grumpy, Connor seemed the worst off. He was getting grumpier by the moment as everyone offered him tips on how to beat jet lag.

Once Giles had distributed the tea and coffee Nick stood up to speak. “As far as I can narrow it down the anomaly has been open for about a week. Giles says that several vampire, er, nests have been attacked, badly mutilating the inhabitants. Few have been decapitated and none of them have been staked, so I’d say we’re definitely looking at creatures- probably small scavengers who like to eat the gooey bits of dead animals.”

“What about the tarbosaurus?” asked Abby.

“I don’t think they’re the only creatures that have come through the anomaly. The young ones might do this type of damage, but I think the adults would eat the whole body. It does give us an idea of time period, though. I think we’re looking at a small, rat-like scavenger from the late Cretaceous. 

Here’s what I suggest: Willow, Giles tells me you’re good with computers?” Willow nodded. “Great. You and Connor search the net for whatever creature might be doing this. Giles and I are going to search the books. Buffy, I’d appreciate it if you took Abby and Becker and any of your friends that would be willing and start questioning any vampires you can find. Most of these attacks have occurred underground so our anomaly is probably in the sewers somewhere. Ask if anyone has noticed anything unusual, particularly disturbances in radio frequencies or magnetic fields. Will you do that?”

Buffy gave a quick nod. “Will do.”

“Jenny, I assume you already have appointments lined up with the media?”

“Yes.”

“And Lester will handle the paperwork,” Nick finished.

Lester frowned at him.

Everyone nodded and looked around uncertainly, clearly still struggling to wake up. Slowly they grouped together and went on their way.

***

Buffy, Abby, Becker, Xander, and Anya headed to Willy’s bar. Buffy had warned the newbies that this was a demon bar so they should tread carefully. Seeming not to take her own advice, Buffy walked directly up to the bar, grabbed Willy’s shirt and pulled him toward her. “Willy, I need some info. Creature attacks. Tell me everything you know.”

Willy’s hands went up and he tried hard to not look terrified. “I already told you everything! Vamp nests being attacked. It’s some kind of animal, not a demon. Most demons are staying away from the Hellmouth these days. That’s it. I don’t know nothing else!”

“The Hellmouth? These attacks are centered around the Hellmouth?”

“Yes!”

Buffy let go. “C’mon guys, that’s all we’re going to get out of him.”

They turned as a group and left.

As they walked, Abby asked, “What exactly is the Hellmouth?”

“Exactly what it sounds like,” Xander responded. “It is the literal mouth of Hell.”

“Well, that sounds fun,” Becker said with more than a trace of sarcasm. 

They walked in silence for a bit. As they passed the cemetery, Buffy paused. “Hello Spike.” Spike lurked in the shadow of a crypt, smoking a cigarette, a blanket draped over his head just in case.

“You didn’t come home last night, Spike. The basement felt so comfortable without you there,” Xander called. 

Spike frowned and spoke to his cigarette. “After you knocked me out last night I got gnawed on by something. Think it might be one of those dinosaurs you’re looking for. Lucky I woke up when I did.”

“That’s too bad,” said Anya.

“Yeah, I’m going to be sore for days.”

“No, I mean about you waking up.”

“Did you get a look at the creatures? Can you give a description?” asked Abby.

Spike looked over Abby slowly, smiling and biting his lip. He took another drag of his cigarette and said,   
“I don’t think I caught your name, Little Bit.”

Abby rolled her eyes. “I’d be happy to kick your ass if it will get me more information.”

“Alright, don’t get pissy, I’m prepared to strike a deal.”

“A deal?” Buffy asked caustically. “Why would we ever make a deal with you?”

“I know what you’re looking for. I got a good look at these creatures and a pretty good idea where they’re coming from.”

“The Hellmouth, yeah, we’ve got that, thanks though,” Buffy responded.

Spike looked taken aback, but recovered quickly. “Well I also know that the things that nibbled on my small intestine aren’t the same things as the creatures attacking humans.”

“What?” Becker asked, moving forward and grabbing Spike’s arm. “What other creatures have come through?”

“I’ll tell you . . . for a price.”

“We’re not paying you anything, Spike. You can tell us or Becker will pull you into the sunlight and give you a nice tan.” 

Becker gripped Spike’s arm a little tighter and gave a small pull, not hard enough to move him but hard enough to let Spike know he could. Spike gave a small cry and dropped his cigarette.

“Hey now! Don’t go doing that! I’m not looking for money, just a little . . . protection. I want to help you find these things and get rid of them so they don’t finish eating me in my sleep.”

Becker looked to Buffy, then Abby.

“We need to find these creatures and if he’s seen them he can help us,” Abby responded.

Buffy sighed. “I hate to say it, but she’s right. We can use all the help we can get here. But when we’re done with this, we’re done. You’re not our friend, you’re not welcome here. We’ll help each other until this is over but that’s it. Got it?”

“Fine by me. You seem to forget that I don’t like you.”

“You sure spend a lot of time hanging around with us, though,” Xander chimed.

“We should probably head back and tell the others what we found out,” Buffy said. 

Spike adjusted the blanket farther over his head and they set off, Spike walking several paces behind the group. They hadn’t gone more than a few blocks when Spike burst out laughing. “Oh my god, your first name is Hilary?” Becker turned sharply to saw Spike holding a wallet. “I hate to tell you this, mate, but that’s a girl’s name,” Spike laughed.

“You stole my wallet?” Becker asked, fury burning in his voice.

“You threatened to pull me into the sun,” Spike shot back.

Becker crossed the space between them, snatched back his wallet, and pulled out his gun before Spike had a chance to react. “I know shooting you won’t kill you, but I bet it would hurt a lot.”

“Alright, calm down.” Spike raised his hands in surrender as best as he could while keeping covered with the blanket. “I’m not the one you should be mad at. I didn’t name you Hilary.”

Becker glared at him for a moment, then replaced his gun and started walking again, pointedly ignoring the stares of the others.

“Is your first name really Hilary?” Abby whispered to him.

“It’s a family name,” Becker grumbled, pulling ahead. 

Buffy and Xander bit back smiles and Xander put a hand over Anya’s mouth before she could say something tactless. She frowned but took the hint.

***

Back in Giles’ house things weren’t going so well. Jenny had gone and come back in less than an hour, saying that the media here didn’t seem very surprised in potential creature attacks and there was really nothing left to do. She had instead joined Nick and Giles in going through Giles’ books. She was sitting awfully close to Giles on the sofa, Nick thought, and she kept laughing and tucking her hair behind her ears every time Giles spoke. Nick was having trouble concentrating on what he was reading.

Connor and Willow were sitting side by side at the table, their laptops open in front of them. They had been searching every dinosaur website they could find, but with no luck. The Cretaceous just didn’t have any small scavengers. Willow had at least succeeded in hacking into the local morgue’s database and pulled up pictures of the mutilated corpses. They were now comparing the bite marks to every fossil they could find. 

“You know,” Giles said, “I much prefer looking for demons than dinosaurs. Demons have clear motivations whereas this is all guess work.”

Jenny giggled and tucked her hair behind her ear.

Nick sighed and closed his book a little harder than he meant to. He stood up and headed for the kitchen, hoping that a nice cup of tea would distract him from Jenny and how Claudia Brown never would’ve giggled like that.

“Oi, Professor,” Connor yelled after him. “Mind getting me a fresh cup of coffee while you’re in there?” Nick looked annoyed but took Connor’s cup from him and went into the kitchen.

Willow leaned over and whispered to Connor, “So he’s a professor?”

Connor seemed confused as to why she was whispering, but followed her lead and whispered back, “Yeah, he does it all. Professor of paleontology, evolutionary zoologist, dinosaur hunter, you name it.”

“Does he, uh, have a girlfriend?” Willow asked, blushing.

Connor gave a small laugh but managed to keep his voice down. “Does he have a girlfriend? Well, he’s kind of a romantic disaster. His last girlfriend, if she did in fact exist, disappeared when the time stream was interrupted. Then there’s his ex-wife, the psychopath who occasionally tries to kill him when she’s not hiding in the past.”

“That’s nothing. My last boyfriend was a werewolf who cheated on me with another werewolf and then ran away.”

“Really? A werewolf? That’s cool.”

“It wasn’t so cool when he got out of his cage. Plus, have you ever kissed a guy with bunny breath?”

Connor winced and Willow smiled. This was probably the first time she had talked about Oz and not felt like curling into a little ball and crying. They pulled apart as Nick came back from the kitchen carrying two cups of coffee. He handed one to Connor and offered the other to Willow. “I thought you could probably use some caffeine, too, Willow. I know working with Connor here can be a bit taxing.” He smiled at the young man.

“Oh, thank you, uh . . .” she paused, not sure whether to address him as ‘sir,’ ‘professor,’ or ‘Cutter.’

“Nick,” he finished for her, assuming she had forgotten his name.

Willow blushed again and offered him the chair next to her. Nick glanced at Jenny and saw that she was still shamelessly flirting with Giles. He sat down. “So what have you two found?”

“Not much. I pulled up the pictures from the morgue and these bite marks were definitely made by something small, but there don’t seem to be any small dinosaurs in the Cretaceous.”

“No, that time period was more famous for producing giant dinosaurs like the T-Rex. I admit I’m stumped.”

“But aren’t you a paleontology professor? Isn’t this your thing?” Willow asked, tucking her short hair behind her ear. Nick failed to notice the gesture. Before he could answer, Connor jumped in his seat, spilling coffee on his lap. He frantically wiped at his jeans. Willow offered her napkin. “Are you okay, Connor?” she asked.

“Yeah, fine,” he said, sitting back down. “I think I found what we’re looking for, only the time period is off.”

“Let’s see,” Nick said. Connor turned his laptop so they could see. Giles and Jenny got up and gathered behind Willow and Nick. The screen showed a webpage devoted to the procompsognathus.   
“That mouth is certainly the right shape,” Nick agreed.

“Wait, weren’t these the dinosaurs in _Jurassic Park_ that spit poison and killed Newman?” asked Willow, looking concerned.

“The poison spitting thing was made up for the movie,” Connor said, not looking as certain as he sounded.

Nick leaned forward and looked from the dinosaur on Connor’s laptop to the partially eaten corpses on Willow’s. “It certainly looks like our creature, but this dinosaur was from the late Triassic, not even close to our time frame.”

“Maybe the fossil record is wrong?” Connor suggested.

Nick shrugged. “It certainly is incomplete.” The five of them stared at the screens in silence for a moment. Before anyone could venture a guess, the door opened and Buffy, Xander, Anya, Becker, Abby, and a slightly smoldering Spike walked in. Nick looked at them expectantly. “Well, what did you find out?”

“His first name is Hilary!” Spike cheered, pointing at Becker.

There was a pause.

Nick raised his eyebrows and looked at Becker. “You’re first name is Hilary?”

Connor smiled. “But that’s a girl’s name, mate.”

“I have a gun, you know,” Becker sighed. 

Everyone tried very hard not to laugh.

Giles turned to Spike and asked, “What are you doing here, anyway?”

“Spike got nibbled on last night and says he saw the dinosaur that did it,” Buffy answered for him.

“Was it this fellow?” Connor asked, rotating his computer so Spike could see.

“Yep, that’s the one. Took a nice bite out of my side before I scared him off.”

Connor looked elated. “Looks like the ‘Compy’ is our creature, then!”

Spike and Buffy exchanged a look. Spike motioned to her, “You tell them.”

Connor’s smile faded a bit. “What?”

“It looks like we’ve got one type of dinosaur attacking dead humans and another attacking live ones.” Buffy paused to let that sink in. “But I think we’ve found where the anomaly-thingy is!”

“And where is that,” Nick asked.

“The Hellmouth.”

This time it was Willow who sighed. “You know, I really thought that after we graduated and the building was destroyed we would never have to go back there.”

Buffy and Xander nodded in agreement. Nick, Connor, and Jenny looked a bit confused, but didn’t say anything. Giles picked up his bag of weapons and looked around at the assembled group. “Grab all the weapons you can carry, we’re going to the high school library.”


	4. Chapter 4

The group picked their way through the crumbling remains of Sunnydale High School, careful to avoid stepping in decomposing mayor pieces. They had left Jenny and Anya stationed at the front door to keep an eye out. Keep an eye out for what exactly, they hadn’t said. Giles and Buffy had taken turns attempting to describe the Hellmouth on the way over, but neither were entirely successful. Nick, Connor and Abby weren’t quite sure what to expect once they entered the library. Giles gave a small gasp as they stepped through the doorway into the rubble. “It, er, looked much nicer when I worked here,” he said.

Everyone held back at the entrance looking for some telling sign that this is where the dinosaurs were coming from. Connor took a handheld AM/FM radio out of his bag along with a metal pen. He turned the radio on to 87.9. There was a wavering static sound. He glanced at Nick. “Well, it’s definitely here,” Nick said, sweeping his eyes over the room. Connor nodded and took a few tentative steps forward, the radio in his left hand and a metal pen held out in front of him in his right. The rest of the group watched as he stepped over piles of blackened books and around overturned tables, his eyes on the pen in his hand.

“What is he doing?” Willow whispered to Nick.

“The anomalies have a strong magnetic field. If he gets close enough it should pull the pen in.”

Connor stepped onto the marble hexagon in the center and Buffy cringed. Nick and Abby look at her sharply. “What’s wrong?” Abby asked, panic in her voice.

“Nothing,” Buffy responded. “Just bad memories.” Giles put his hand on her back; she smiled up at him and crossed her arms. It was hard to think about what had happened here, both the good and the bad. She was grateful that Giles understood without her having to say anything.

Connor had paused briefly to watch this exchange and now turned back. He was facing the upper level and slowly walking parallel to the stairs when he tripped and sprawled on the floor. The pen flew out of his hand, skidded a short way across the floor, then turned 90 degrees shot a few feet and down a large crack. Nick and Abby immediately ran over, past Connor to where the pen had disappeared. “Did you see that? It must be down there!” Abby yelled in excitement.

“What’s below the library?” Nick asked while crouching down and trying to peer into the crack. Giles, Buffy, Xander and Willow followed, more cautiously. Xander stopped to help Connor up. They all gathered around the professor. “We need to get downstairs. The anomaly must be right below us,” Nick said, pulling some paper clips from his pocket and watching them get sucked into the floor.

Giles sighed. “We can’t go down there. There is no lower level. Below us is the Hellmouth. If the anomaly is in the Hellmouth I’d say we’re . . .”

“Screwed,” Buffy finished. 

Nick seemed not to hear them and was now trying to reach his hand into the crack. Upon seeing this, Willow rushed over and pulled his arm back. “Don’t do that!” She held onto his arm for a few moments longer than was strictly necessary. Nick didn’t pull his arm away from Willow’s hand, mostly due to the fact that he was still distracted by the crack in the floor. 

“Look!” exclaimed Xander, pointing to an overturned bookcase. “The split looks like it might get wider under there!”

Buffy strode over to the bookcase and, in one fluid movement, lifted it off the floor and threw it across the room where it crashed and splintered on the staircase. As soon as the bookcase had cleared the ruptured marble floor, a creature shaped like a large pumpkin covered in feathers and teeth shot out of the floor and launched itself at the huddled group. Everyone leapt back to avoid being bitten. Willow, still clutching Nick’s arm, jumped into him and they wound up sprawled on the floor in a rather compromising position. Connor, Giles, and Xander backed into another, still upright, bookcase, which wobbled and toppled over. It barely missed Xander, but hit both Connor and Giles square in their heads knocking them both unconscious. The others managed to remain standing, but barely. 

Becker’s reflexes were fast. He always kept his tranquilizer gun at the ready. He aimed, fired, and watched the bird-like creature drop to the floor with a thud before the bookcase had finished falling on Connor and Giles. The whole ordeal was over in a matter of seconds. Once Becker was sure that the creature was out he swept his eyes over the others. He ran to the fallen bookcase and lifted it off the men. He set his gun down then took Giles’ wrist in his left hand and Connor’s in his right to check their pulses. “Xander, go outside and get Ms. Lewis and Anya. These two need immediate medical attention.” Xander nodded and ran to do as he was told. Becker lifted both men’s eyelids and put an ear to their chests. After convincing himself that they were both more or less okay other than their head wounds, he yelled to the rest of the room. “Is everyone else okay? Sound off!”

Abby was the first to respond that she was fine. She was, in fact, already crossing to inspect the creature.

“Buffy’s bleeding!” Spike yelled in excitement. His face turned bumpy as he reached for her. “C’mon, love, just let me have a little taste.” Buffy punched Spike in the face and he staggered back a few steps. Spike shook his head and the lumps on his forehead went away. He opened his mouth to say something, but saw Buffy’s expression and thought better of it. He settled for crossing his arms and looking sullen.

“How bad is it?” Becker asked.

“Well, she hurt my jaw a bit, but I’ve had worse.”

“Not you. Buffy, how bad is the bleeding?”

Buffy examined her elbow. “It’s fine. It’s deep but it’s not life-threatening. I heal quickly. Plus, there’s no chance of me turning into a dinosaur, so I’m one up on most days.”

Becker smiled and turned back to his patients.

***

Anya and Jenny, standing guard outside, were unaware of the chaos in the library.

“And so I turned him into a toad,” Anya said. “Cliché, I know, but he learned his lesson. That was nothing compared to the time I put taste buds on a man’s genitals!” As Anya prattled on, Jenny found herself wishing she hadn’t tried to make small talk, or at least that she had picked a better opening question than “what do you do?” First Anya had told her- in very graphic detail- about her sex life with Xander. Now she was sharing anecdotes from her life as a vengeance demon. It was almost enough to make Jenny ask for more details about Xander’s penis, which was apparently Anya’s favorite subject. “. . . if you think a bowel movement _smells_ bad-“

Xander burst through the double doors.

“Thank god,” Jenny murmured, not quite under her breath.

“Giles and Connor are hurt!” Xander yelled, breathlessly. Jenny’s eyes widened as she took off toward the library. Xander took Anya’s hand and they followed fast behind.

***

Meanwhile, Willow and Nick were in a tangled heap on the floor. Willow landed on top of him, her cleavage directly in his face. She shifted slightly to position herself between his legs and propped herself up on her hands looking down at him. “Are you okay, Nick?” 

He nodded and smiled up at her. “Are you?”

She smiled back. “I’m peachy.” 

She thought she felt something shift in his pants, but maybe that was just her imagination. No . . . She blushed. That was definitely the professor she felt. She leaned into him and he propped himself up on his elbows. He leaned in, possibly to kiss her. She parted her lips but just before they connected Abby called out. “Oi, Cutter, could you help ID this thing?”

Willow and Nick quickly but awkwardly disentangled, grateful that Abby’s back (and everyone else’s, for that matter) was turned to them. Willow stood up and helped pull Nick to his feet. Willow muttered something indecipherable and Nick nodded as if he understood. Nick crossed to Abby as Willow glanced around nervously. She suddenly noticed Giles and Connor on the floor and rushed to them as Xander returned with Jenny and Anya.

“I have a first aid kit in my bag,” Jenny called to Becker as she ran to him. “It’s not much but it should have some bandages and an ice pack.” She pulled the small kit out of her purse and handed it to Becker, then knelt down and took Giles’ head in her hands. He was just beginning to stir. Becker opened the kit. It had one roll of gauze, a pair of nail trimmers, and an unused ice pack. He handed the ice pack to Jenny and she broke the inner seal and pressed the rapidly cooling pack to Giles’ forehead. He smiled up at her and fumbled around for his glasses. They had fallen off and landed near where Willow was standing. She handed them to Giles and noticed Becker frowning furiously at Connor. 

“What’s wrong?” Willow asked.

“He’s bleeding quite a bit. We need to staunch the flow now.” He started to take off his shirt, clearly intending to press it against Connor’s head, but Willow put am arm on his shoulder to stop him.

“I know a spell that can stop the bleeding.”

Xander, who had been filling Anya in on the attack, suddenly jumped into the conversation. “No! Willow, if you don’t know what you’re doing you could really hurt him!”

Willow frowned. “I know what I’m doing, Xander! It’s just a simple cauterizing spell! I had to use it plenty of times after the full moon!”

Their yelling had gotten the attention of everyone in the room, particularly Nick, who was trying hard to follow what she was saying. Surely she didn’t mean spells as in magic, right? 

Anya attempted to defend her boyfriend. “Xander just worries that you’ll mess up again. He doesn’t think you’re skilled enough to do simple magic.”

“Thanks a lot, Anya,” Xander sighed. 

Willow glowered at them, then raised her hand toward Connor and slowly clenched her fist, never taking her eyes off the two of them.

“The bleeding stopped!” Becker cried in surprise. “Guys, look! It stopped completely!”

Willow turned her attention to Connor, closed her eyes and touched her fingers to Connor’s temples. Connor’s eyes opened. Willow smiled at him, took the roll of gauze out of Becker’s hand, and started wrapping his wound. Nick’s jaw hung open. He could hardly believe what he had just seen. He was very impressed, even if he didn’t understand what had happened. Abby wasn’t so distractible. She was back to examining the bird, carefully lifting its wings and feeling its feet. It had more of a snout than a beak, with sharp teeth and a pointed, coarse tongue. It had razor sharp talons on its feet, as well as on its hands at the edge of its wings. It was a fat little thing, with a long, tufted tail. She extended one of the wings and waited for the professor to comment. When he didn’t, she sighed, reached over, and turned his head back to the bird. She motioned toward the wing.

“It seems to be from the Jurassic,” Nick responded, “but that doesn’t fit with our timeline at all.”

Abby nodded in agreement. “There’s always been some debate as to where these guys fit in the evolutionary chain, but these wings certainly suggest Jurassic to me. It’s definitely pre-archaeopteryx if you look at the bone structure here and in the jaw.”

With Giles and Connor reasonably patched up, the rest of the group wandered over to Nick, Abby, and the creature.

“What is that thing?” Anya asked.

Nick said, “It appears to be a pedopenna.”

Xander raised his eyebrows. “A pedo- what now?” Abby shot him a look normally reserved for Connor.

Nick was far too used to these types of interjections and calmly went on to explain, “The pedopenna is like a prehistoric meat-eating chicken. It’s small, but dangerous. I’d be curious if there have been reports of wild turkey attacks in the area.”

Connor frowned. “But fossil records indicate that pedopennas were in the late Jurassic. That gives us a dino from the Jurassic, one from the Triassic, and one from the Cretaceous. Is my head that badly injured or is this really weird?”

“Maybe the anomaly thingy being inside the Hellmouth is screwing with the time flow,” Buffy suggested.

Giles started to nod but it made his head spin. “The Hellmouth does certainly seem to be a unique environment where normal laws of physics no longer apply.”

“It’s certainly a possibility. I think we need to do more research,” Nick said.

“What are we going to do with this one?” Abby asked. “We can’t get to the anomaly to send it back and I’d like the chance to study it some more.”

“We could keep it in a cage,” Anya suggested.

“Ooo! There’s a dog kennel in our basement from when I was a kid and my parents almost got me a dog!” Xander exclaimed. Then his face fell as he realized he had just volunteered for dino babysitting duty.

“Wait a minute now,” Spike said, “I don’t want to sleep next to some smelly monster.”

“I could say the same about sleeping near you,” Xander muttered.

“Okay,” Nick said, “perhaps it would be best if we split up. Abby, will you help Xander and Anya get the creature back to his basement?” 

“Sure, we’ll have to grab a few supplies to make it comfortable.”

“Great. Becker, will you go with them? Keep an eye on the trees especially. I don’t want them getting attacked on the way.” Becker nodded once, and checked to make sure his gun was loaded. “The rest of us will go back to Giles’ and see if we can do some research. I want to know everything there is about the Hellmouth and how it could affect the anomalies.”

Buffy frowned. “I think I’d be better off helping with the dinosaur. I still need to patrol tonight, anyway.”

“Sure,” Nick said. “Spike, you’re staying with Xander, right?”

“Unfortunately.”

“And you’re, er, dead?”

“As a doornail.”

“You’d better carry the bird then. We don’t know what diseases it might carry. We’ve had problems with people getting sick before and I’d like to avoid that.” He glanced at Connor, who tried to keep his face expressionless. 

Spike mumbled something about no one caring if the vampire gets sick, but he picked up the creature and started toward the door. The rest of the group followed him, going their separate ways once they were out of the school.

***

By the time the research group arrived at Giles’ house it became apparent that neither Giles nor Connor was in any shape to do much of anything. The two men were deposited on the couch while Jenny went into the kitchen to get water for them and wine for everyone else. Nick and Willow sat side by side at the dining room table so he could look over her shoulder while she did searches on her laptop.

Connor groaned. “You’d think after as many times as I’ve been knocked out it would stop hurting so much.”

Giles smiled. “I know what you mean. It seems every time there’s a new bad guy in town, I end up unconscious.”

Jenny handed out the drinks and took a seat next to Giles. “I can’t imagine you’ve been hit over the head nearly as many times as Connor.”

“Well, I’ve been on the job a lot longer.”

Willow leaned over and whispered to Nick, “Honestly, no one gets knocked out more often than Giles.” Nick smiled. He was having trouble deciding whether to put his arm on the back of her chair or not. She really was quite beautiful, but she was much too young. He wasn’t sure what exactly had happened back at the library. He thought she might have leaned in to kiss him, but maybe he had imagined it. He was woefully out of practice at flirting. Maybe if he’d been better at these things it would have gone differently with Claudia Brown. That was neither here nor there, of course, Claudia was long gone and he had come to accept that. Willow was talking and he had to force himself to listen to her instead of just watching those cherry lips move. “At least that’s what it looks like to me,” she finished.

“I’m sorry, what were you saying?”

She smiled. “I’m saying the Hellmouth certainly has the capability to bend dimensions, so it would make sense that it could bend time as well.”

Nick nodded. He was still having trouble focusing. He gave up trying to figure out what to do with his arm and decided to just take notes. He pulled an open notebook over to him and began searching for a pen. Willow was still talking but it was so hard to concentrate and there just wasn’t a pen anywhere near him. “Here,” Willow said as she floated a pen from her bag near the door to him. Without thinking, Nick leaned in and kissed her. It was quick and graceless but, much to his surprise, she leaned in and kissed him back. He reached up and ran his fingers through her short, red hair. She tasted sweet so he ran his tongue along her bottom lip. She placed her hand tentatively on his leg and softly traced her thumb over his knee. Jenny laughed and they broke apart, suddenly very aware of the others in the room. Jenny, Giles, and Connor’s backs were turned and it seemed they didn’t notice a thing. 

“I should get back to the hotel,” Nick said, thinking that he needed some time to think this over.

“I’ll walk with you,” Willow said. “It’s on the way to my dorm and, you know, you still don’t know the neighborhood very well.” Nick was a bit taken aback but he didn’t object. 

They said their goodbyes. Jenny waved and the three on the couch all called out a good night. Willow and Nick stepped out into the night.

***

They didn’t talk much on the short walk to Nick’s hotel room. It wasn’t that they didn’t try, but they were both rather awkward and it was hard to flirt when all you had to talk about were creature attacks. When they reached the hotel Nick did not invite her in. 

“Look, Willow, I’m out of practice with these things but you are very young and it’s late and I probably should have walked you back to your place instead . . .” He trailed off as she stepped past him and closed the door without touching it. She stood on her tip toes to kiss him and the small amount of resistance he had vanished. He pulled her close and kissed her hard, running his hands along her back. She slowly unbuttoned his shirt and slid it off his shoulders. He became very aware that he wasn’t in the shape that he used to be and he was starting to show his age. Seeming to sense this, Willow stepped back and pulled off her own shirt. She looked up and dimmed the lights. Nick ran his hands over her pale, smooth skin. She gently pushed him toward the bed.

They were slow with each other. Nick was a bit out of practice and Willow had only ever been with Oz, so they took their time relearning. Every caress was gentle; every kiss was soft. They took time to learn what the other liked and kept at it until both were satisfied. Afterward they fell asleep in each other’s arms. They slept peacefully, both unaware that something was outside their window looking in.


	5. Chapter 5

“Grumpy? You bet I’m grumpy! I’ve been in California very nearly a week and I have yet to see any hot girls in bikinis!” Connor yelled, nearly hysterical.

“Oh yeah?” countered Abby. “Well, I haven’t gone this long without a proper work out since I met you. Maybe kicking your ass would make me feel better!”

“Only if you do it in a bikini!”

Connor and Abby weren’t the only ones at wits’ end in Giles’ living room. The day had been a bust. No new information has surfaced despite hours of tedious research. There had been no new creature attacks and Buffy hadn’t encountered a single vampire during patrol last night. 

Willow and Nick were feeling plenty of tension themselves. Willow had been excited to tell Buffy about her night with the professor, since she rarely was the one with juicy stories. Nick, if he was absolutely honest with himself, just wanted to show Willow off. He’d had a long dry spell after Helen disappeared, a very long dry spell, and when he woke up this morning he couldn’t help grinning like a teenager. They held hands on the way to Giles’ flat, but once inside the tension in the air was palpable. He and Willow had spent most of the morning as mediators, and the stress was wearing on his nerves.

“I could kick both your asses from across the room,” Buffy offered.

Connor took a small step back, but Abby just rolled her eyes. 

“What is she even wearing today?” Abby asked Connor in a mock whisper. “Do you think she owns a mirror?”

Connor replied, “You’re kidding, right? You two are wearing almost the exact same thing!”

“Yeah, but I don’t look like a slag.”

“Who are you calling a- whatever you just called me?”

“ _Enough_!” Nick yelled and the room went quiet. “I am sick of all this bickering! I am a scientist, not a babysitter. We’re not getting anywhere like this. Why doesn’t everyone take the rest of the night off? Go have fun somewhere that’s not here and come back tomorrow morning ready to work.”

Giles, who had been very quiet all morning, said, “What if there’s another attack?”

“If there’s an attack we’ll get in touch with everyone and deal with it. As much as I hate to admit it, Connor’s right.”

“I am?”

“It’s not fair to fly halfway ‘round the world only to stay cooped up inside doing research.”

Jenny spoke up. “We’re here to do a job; we’re not on vacation. Lester will have your head if you give everyone the whole night off.”

“Lester’s not here right now, is he? He’s got his ‘meetings’ that have conveniently kept him out of this flat.”

He saw Jenny start to argue, and then change her mind. She needed a night off as much as anyone.

“Right, if you’ve got a phone, keep it on you. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Nick finished. Buffy was halfway out the door before he was done speaking.

“Where are you off to, Buff?” Xander asked.

“I need some non-slayery time. I think I’m going to head to my mom’s house. I haven’t been over there lately.” She shut the door behind her before anyone could respond.

Xander turned to Connor. “Wanna hit the beach?”

“Yes!”

Anya smiled. “Abby, you should join us. Then we’ll have even numbers so Connor won’t be left alone when Xander and I sneak off to have sex.”

Xander laughed awkwardly. Abby frowned at Anya, then at Connor. She seemed to reach some internal decision and the frown faded. “Alright, a day at the beach sounds nice.”

“Willow, care to join us?” Xander asked.

Willow glanced briefly at Nick. He was trying to keep his face blank, but she could tell he had hoped to have her to himself. She smiled at him, then turned to Xander and said, “You guys go ahead. I’m not really in a beach mood.”

Xander shrugged, and the four headed out the door discussing what kind of food was necessary for a true beach experience.

The living room seemed much quieter once they had gone. Giles yawned. “I think I’m going to take a nap. My head is still awfully sore from last night. You are all welcome to stay, of course.” He stood and headed upstairs to his bedroom.

Willow and Nick packed up their notes and whispered to each other. Willow giggled. Jenny smiled at them. She was happy to see Nick had found someone. Well, she was happy that he was no longer following her around and calling her Claudia Brown. She hadn’t told him yet that things had fallen apart with her fiancé. She wasn’t quite sure what she thought of the professor, but she was grateful not to be the center of his attention. “I think I’m going to head out and find a place where I can get a decent cup of coffee,” she said.

Nick’s eyes widened into a slightly panicked expression. He didn’t think that he still had romantic feelings toward her, but he did feel protective and didn’t want her going off by herself. Becker saw Nick’s concern and decided to step in. “I’ll join you, if that’s alright. I could use a nice cuppa.”

Jenny smiled. “That would be lovely.”

Becker nodded discreetly at Nick and then left with Jenny. Once the door had closed, Nick turned to Willow. “What would you like to do this evening?”

“Well, I thought maybe we could go to the library. UC Sunnydale has a fantastic paleontology department. I’d love to give you a tour . . . unless you think that would be too boring . . .” Willow trailed off, looking a bit sheepish.

Nick smiled warmly. “That sounds nice.”

Willow grinned. “Awesome! The library is huge and I promise it’s nothing at all like the high school library.”

“After you give me a tour of the university, would you like to get dinner together?”

“I’d love to.” She looked as delighted as she felt. 

Nick got up from the table and took Willow’s hand. He bent slightly to kiss her soft lips. She picked up her laptop bag. He kissed her again when they reached the door, then left for the library.

***

They had been gone for about ten minutes; Giles had just gotten comfortable in his bed when there was a persistent knocking at the door. _Dammit, Spike, can’t you go a single day without seeking refuge in my living room?_ Giles thought as he climbed out of bed and tied on a robe. He went downstairs and opened the door. “Jenny?” Jenny stepped inside with a smile. “I thought you were having coffee with Captain Becker.”

“He was a boring conversationalist.”

She stepped forward and kissed him, her hands undoing the tie on his robe. Giles traced his fingers through her thick brown hair. A soft moan escaped her lips and she leaned her body into his. “I want you, Rupert.”

Giles locked the front door, took Jenny’s hand and led her upstairs. Once inside the bedroom, Jenny shoved Giles onto the bed and tore open the buttons on her blouse. She slid it off and tossed it aside, then pulled off her camisole and unlatched her bra. She stepped toward the bed, took Giles’ hands and placed them on her breasts. As he fondled her, she unbuttoned her trousers and slid them off, followed quickly by her knickers. She pushed his robe open further, tracing her fingernails over his chest, down his stomach, and grasped his length. He groaned and laid back. She climbed on top of him, already wet. She held one hand on his chest, pinning him down, while the other guided him inside of her. His back arched involuntarily. She moved slowly at first, lifting almost all the way off of him, and then slamming back down, harder and harder. When he tried to sit up a bit she shoved him back down and nipped at his neck. 

“I need you, Rupert. I’m so close,” she gasped. She shoved her hips back and they came together, loudly.

Once their moans had subsided, Jenny rolled off and lay on her back beside him. He turned onto his side and ever so gently kissed her temple. She smiled softly and closed her eyes. Giles thought that seemed to be a very good idea indeed, so he closed his eyes and was asleep in moments. 

When he awoke, Jenny was gone.

***

The beach was pretty crowded for a weekday. It was filled with college students who were either done with finals, or had decided to skip studying for the day. Connor, Xander, Anya, and Abby had found a spot in the sand for their cooler. Abby and Anya put down towels, lounged in the sun, and chatted quietly. Connor was delighted when Abby changed into a skimpy black bikini. It had been in her suitcase, which meant she’d brought it with her, which meant he might have the opportunity to see her in this back home. He made a mental note to turn the heat up higher in their flat. Abby was in a good mood. When Xander rubbed sunscreen onto Anya’s back, Connor had half-jokingly offered to do the same for Abby. He never dreamed she’d let him. Her skin was so soft . . . 

The frisbee hit him directly in the forehead.

“Earth to Connor!” laughed Xander. 

Connor smiled back, picked up the frisbee and tossed it back to Xander. _This is the life_ , he thought. He’d never played frisbee on the beach. He’d never actually spent a day at the beach with his mates. And he’d certainly never seen so many girls in so little clothing. He grinned so broadly his cheeks hurt. He caught the frisbee as it flew past him. 

Abby smiled. It was fun watching Connor having a good time. He was a dork most of the time, but every so often when he let himself go he was actually kind of cute. And he didn’t look too bad with his shirt off. A little pale, maybe, but his time chasing dinosaurs had added some muscle tone. Maybe she should reconsider her perpetual rejection . . . 

“I think clothing is vastly overrated,” Anya cut into Abby’s musings. “I like looking at Xander’s bare chest. I’d like to be able to do that more often. I don’t see why he has to wear a shirt at work or when we’re at Giles’ house.”

Abby smiled. She’d gotten used to Anya’s unusual directness and right now, relaxing in the sun, she kind of liked it. “I just think we need to spend more time at the beach.”

Anya smiled back and they lay in silence for a few moments. She felt comfortable here with Abby. She didn’t have any actual friends outside of Xander, but Abby seemed to like her okay. It was nice.

“So do you go to university with Buffy and Willow?” Abby asked as the frisbee game drifted away from them.

“No, I don’t really do anything. I was a vengeance demon until the Scooby Gang destroyed my necklace. Now I’m a mortal human who’s not quite old enough to buy beer. It’s rather frustrating.”

This raised far more questions than it answered. Abby decided to ignore most of them and simply asked, “So a vengeance demon does what, exactly?”

“I helped wronged women get back at the men who had hurt them.”

“Hmm,” Abby murmured. She had thought of Stephen momentarily, then felt a sharp stab of guilt. He hadn’t meant to hurt her and surely his death was enough to absolve him of any wrongdoings. She sighed. Abby and Anya lay back in silence again.

Xander and Connor had drifted quite a ways away from the girls. They were having such a good time that they hadn’t noticed. They got more and more competitive, each throwing the disc as hard as they could, forcing the other dive to catch it. This time, the strength in Xander’s arm was helped along by the wind. The frisbee flew over Connor’s head and beyond the equipment sheds. 

“Sorry, man!” Xander called, but Connor was already trotting to fetch it.

He found the frisbee stuck on the roof of the smaller of the two equipment sheds. They were neglected and covered in old tarps and garbage. Connor reached as high as he could, but his finger tips just barely brushed the disc. He groaned in frustration and turned to look for a stick to knock it down. 

Xander was standing very close and startled him as he turned.

“Sorry if I scared you, just wanted to see what was taking so long.”

“It’s stuck on the roof and I can’t quite reach it.”

Xander raised his arm as if to try to grab it himself, but Connor was still between himself and the shed. 

“Hm, looks like it’s stuck. We’ll have to find something else to do.”

“I think if I can get a stick or a pole or something we can knock it down.”

“A pole, huh?” Xander questioned, his hand moving to press against the bulge in Connor’s swim trunks. 

Connor jumped back into the wall of the shed. “What are you doing?”

“Just trying to have some fun. Relax.”

“Look, no offense, but I’m not into blokes.”

“Me neither. I have a girlfriend, Connor. There are just some things that girlfriends can’t do.”

“I’m not bent,” Connor repeated, but Xander ignored him, pressing him tighter against the rough wood of the shed wall. Xander’s hand began massaging Connor through his trunks, his other arm keeping Connor in place. Connor moaned in spite of himself. Xander smiled. “I’ve never done this before,” Connor whispered in a last ditch protest.

“You’ll like it, I promise.”

Xander knelt in front of him and untied the string on Connor’s trunks. He slid them down just enough to release his hardness. He stroked him gently, then moved closer and took Connor into his mouth. Connor squeezed his eyes closed and imagined that he was with Abby instead. As Xander’s tongue played with him he gasped and clutched Xander’s hair. Xander was doing things to him that Connor had never even imagined. His breathing increased and he came without warning. If Xander was surprised or bothered, he didn’t show it. He pulled back, swallowed hard and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. Connor’s eyes were still closed as Xander stood up and knocked the frisbee down from the roof. When Connor finally opened them, Xander was gone. He pulled up his trunks and tied them, looking down at the frisbee and wondering what the hell had just happened. Then he heard screams.

***

Abby noticed first that something was wrong. She sat upright and tried to block out the noise around her. Anya sat up and looked where Abby was focusing. She started to ask what she saw, but then the girl in the water disappeared. Abby was up and running toward the water before the people nearest where the girl had been noticed the spreading red stain. “Get out of the water!” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “Everyone get out of the water!” Suddenly, there was chaos. In the same moment that Abby started yelling, swimmers noticed the blood, and another person- a man this time- was pulled underwater. 

Anya appeared beside Abby. “Where’s Xander? And Connor? They aren’t in the water?” she asked, panic rising in her voice.

“I don’t know. See if you can find them,” Abby responded, clenching her teeth in an attempt to keep her voice steady.

“Xander? Xander?” Anya called toward the crowd fleeing the water.

At this point everyone was running and everyone was yelling. Abby didn’t see Connor or Xander anywhere. She decided to join Anya.

“Connor?”

“Xander?”

“Connor?”

“Xander?”

“Xander!” they exclaimed together as he ran up to them, embracing Anya immediately.

“Where were you?” Anya asked.

“Where’s Connor?” asked Abby.

“We were playing frisbee over there,” he motioned in the direction of the equipment sheds. “I threw it off too far and he went to get it. I don’t know what’s taking so long to get back.”

Abby took off running toward the sheds. She had only made it a few yards, however, when Connor grabbed her by the shoulders, stopping her. She hadn’t seen him and would’ve run right by. 

“Connor!” She threw her arms around him. He smiled and savored the hug. Her hair smelled like coconut and honey. Xander and Anya caught up to them.

“All I heard was screaming. Did you guys see what happened?” Xander asked, looking out at the now almost deserted beach.

 _People in Sunnydale sure know how to flee_ , Abby thought before responding, “I saw a girl disappear, then a man. Something pulled them down too fast for anyone to have saved them.”

“We have to call the others. That’s what Cutter said to do if anything happened,” Anya said matter-of-factly. 

Connor pulled put his cell phone. Was Abby imagining things, or was Connor avoiding eye contact with Xander?

“Straight to voicemail,” Connor sighed in frustration. “Brilliant man but he can never remember to turn on his mobile.”

“What now?” Abby asked.

“We could try Willow. She said she was going to stay behind and then exchanged flirty looks with Cutter,” Anya suggested.

“Yeah, that was weird,” Xander said. “Willow doesn’t have a cell phone though. Wait! Where would Willow be on her day off?” He looked excitedly at the others, they stared blankly back at him. “The library! Just call the UC Sunnydale library and ask for Willow. I’d bet anything she’ll be there!”

As Connor handed his phone to Xander, he whispered, “How did you get over here so fast?”

Xander looked genuinely surprised. “Fast? What took _you_ so long?”

Connor decided to drop it. He wasn’t interested in playing games and he still wasn’t sure how he felt about everything. If Xander wanted to pretend nothing happened, that was fine by him.

***

Willow was pretty certain that this was the best date she’d ever been on. She’d given Nick a tour of the school, mostly spent in the paleontology department where Nick had explained all of the fossils on display. The information was fascinating, but she found herself enjoying watching him talk more than listening to what he said. He was so passionate that she found herself considering switching her major. After the tour they headed to the library. They discussed their favorite books, occasionally getting up to track one down to read a particular passage. 

Now they sat at one of the tables meant for studying, trying to decide where to go for dinner.

“There’s this cute little place by the cemetery that has great Thai food,” Willow suggested.

Before Nick could reply, they were interrupted by a student holding a cordless phone. “Excuse me,” he asked, “are you Willow Rosenberg?” Willow nodded, confused. “There’s a Xander Harris on the phone for you. Please bring it to the front desk when you’re done.” He handed her the phone and walked away.

“Hello?”

“Willow! There’s been an attack at the beach!”

“An attack? Is everyone okay?” Her concerned expression mirrored Nick, who was paying rapt attention.

“We’re fine, some swimmers not so much. Is Cutter still with you?”

“Yeah, he’s right here. Hang on.” She handed the phone to Nick.

“What’s happened?”

Abby had taken the phone from Xander. “Creature attack. I have a bad feeling it’s a Devonian fish of some kind, although I really didn’t get a good look at it. Two swimmers were killed. We’ve got the beach empty now, but . . . Guys, what the hell is that guy doing?” Nick heard the other’s voices in the background.

“Hey, mister! Don’t go in the water!”

“Sir! Stop!”

There was a moment of silence while Nick looked worriedly at Willow, then they both clearly heard screaming through the receiver.

Connor took the phone from Abby. “Professor?”

“What happened, Connor? Is everything alright?”

“A man just waded into the water. He’d dead now. I’m pretty sure it was a dunkleosteus that got him. I used to think they were pretty cool . . .” he trailed off.

“Connor, listen to me, I’m going to call Jenny and have her close the beach. You guys go home or back to the hotel and get some rest. There’s nothing else you can do right now.”

Connor must’ve been pretty shaken, because he just agreed with Nick and hung up the phone. Nick looked to Willow. “We might have to postpone our dinner plans. I’ll call Jenny and see what she says.” Willow just nodded.

***

Abby closed the hotel room door and latched the chain. She stretched out on the floor and tried to do a few yoga positions, but she was too wound up. She stood up and decided to take a long, hot shower. She went into the bathroom and turned the water on, letting it run over her fingers as it warmed up. She peeled off her tank top and cargo shorts, followed by her bikini, and tossed them in a heap on the floor, stepped into the shower and breathed a sigh of contentment as the water flowed over her body.

_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_

Abby started out of her reverie. She was awfully tempted to ignore the knocking, but after the attack this afternoon that probably wasn’t such a good idea. 

_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_

Abby shut off the water and growled, “I’m coming! Just a second!”

She grabbed one of the fluffy white hotel towels off the rack and wrapped it around herself, pushed her dripping bleach-blond hair out of her face and padded to the door, undid the chain and pulled it open. Willow threw her arms around Abby’s neck. “Oh, Abby, I was so worried about you!”

Abby staggered back a few steps. Willow was worried about _her_? She and Willow hadn’t really formed much of a connection, or even really talked. She unwrapped herself from Willow and held her at arm’s length. “Willow, I’m fine. What are you doing here?”

“I came to make sure you were okay! Professor Cutter told me what happened at the beach and I got so scared! I really care about you, Abby, and I couldn’t stand the thought of you getting hurt.” Willow slowly advanced toward Abby, who backed up to keep some distance. She bumped into the bed. Willow stepped into her personal space and whispered, “I need you to be safe, Abby. You see, I really like you . . .”

Willow mashed her lips into Abby’s. Abby was so surprised she tried to leap backwards, but sprawled on the mattress, very aware that her towel was no longer covering anything important. Willow was suddenly on top of her, pinning her down, kissing her neck, her clavicle, her breasts . . . 

Abby stopped struggling as Willow’s warm tongue toyed with her nipple. It felt amazing, she had to admit. Besides, she had never considered herself _exclusively_ heterosexual.

All thought cut out as Willow, or more specifically Willow’s tongue, moved down between Abby’s legs. She bucked and moaned in pleasure as Willow’s tongue darted in and out of her. She reached her arms above her head, clutching the pillow, desperate for something to hold on to. Willow grasped her hips as she came, crying out so loud that she was sure everyone in the hotel could hear her but she didn’t care. She lay on the bed panting, one arm across her eyes.

“I’m going to go freshen up,” Willow said in a voice that was cheerful, but subdued. Abby tried to nod but wasn’t sure her head actually moved.

After almost ten minutes, Abby moved her arm and looked toward the bathroom. The door was still closed and she could hear water running.

“Willow? Is everything okay?”

No response.

“If you come back out here I can return the favor.”

Nothing. Had she done something wrong? Willow had been the one to initiate everything, forcefully even, was she feeling bad about it? Sure Abby had been reluctant at first, but it was mostly just out of surprise. Maybe Willow was waiting for her in the shower. Maybe Willow wanted Abby to join her.

She got up and crossed to the bathroom on wobbly legs. She knocked softly then tried the knob. It was unlocked. Pushing the door open she asked, “Willow? Can I join you in here?”

The bathroom was empty. The faucet ran, but Willow was gone. Abby threw open the shower curtain, a pointless gesture as the curtain was clear plastic, and even checked behind the toilet. Shutting off the taps, she called for Willow, but got no response.

 _Did she sneak out while I was lying in bed?_ Abby wondered. It didn’t seem likely. _Is it possible I dreamt the whole thing?_ Maybe, she conceded to herself. She had been very tired and, now that she thought about it, she really couldn’t picture Willow doing any of this, especially seeing as Willow had eyes for Cutter. She shook her head violently, trying to sort out what was real and what was imaginary. She climbed into bed, pulling the covers up to her chin even though she wasn’t cold. She’d see Willow in the morning and figure this all out then.

***

Late at night in her swanky Los Angeles apartment Cordelia Chase thrashed in her sleep then suddenly awoke, screaming in pain at a splitting headache. Dennis, her ghost of a roommate, floated an ice pack and her phone over to her. “Thanks,” she said through gritted teeth. The vision was fading now, but the pain in her head was worse than ever. “Asprin.” A bottle of painkillers and a glass of water floated onto her nightstand. She swallowed two with a large gulp of water, then picked up the phone and dialed Angel’s number from memory.

“What’s wrong?” he asked without preamble. It was almost 2 in the morning; he knew there was no reason for Cordy to be awake unless there was trouble. 

“I had a vision. You need to come over.”

“Can’t you tell me over the phone?”

“No, I really think this one is better done in person.”

“Okay, I’ll be right over.”

“Hurry.”

Cordelia got out of bed, changed into day clothes, and paced impatiently. She tried to work out what exactly she was going to say when he got there, tried to piece together the broken fragments of her vision, but ultimately got nowhere. She started at the insistent knocking, but recovered quickly, dashed to the door and unlocked it. Angel stepped inside. He looked concerned, although he always looked concerned.

“What’s going on?”

“Buffy’s boning some soldier!”

“Um, that would be her boyfriend.”

“No, there’s something wrong. I don’t think it was her boyfriend.”

“Cordelia, I really don’t want to hear about this . . .”

“Look, I don’t get visions of cheating girlfriends, okay? And it wasn’t just her, I saw Spike-“

“With Buffy?” Angel cut her off with a shout.

“No, with some guy.”

“Some guy?” Angel asked, calmer but still incredulous.

“I don’t know! It was just random porno snapshots that I will never be able to get out of my brain, thank you, but I felt that something was wrong.”

“Demon?”

“Maybe. Like some kind of sex demon.”

A shadow ghosted across Angel’s face. Cordelia knew him well enough to know that look. He knew what they were up against and he didn’t like it.

“I need to get to Sunnydale.”

“We.”

“Are you speaking French?”

“Don’t be a dummy. I’m going with you. I have to live with the images of naked Buffy and,” she  
shuddered, “naked Spike.”

“Fine. Let’s go.”

They got into his car and raced to Sunnydale.

***

At first Buffy had been upset when she’d gotten home and found her mom had gone out of town on museum business, but now, curled up on the couch eating ice cream and watching tv, she was happy for the solitude. She never had alone time in the dorm and she was getting really frustrated at Riley’s clinginess. She wondered what she was going to do about their relationship, but decided to put it out of her mind. _The Price is Right_ was back on. 

The doorbell rang.

Buffy glanced at the clock. It was late. She should be out patrolling right now. Maybe it was someone looking for her mom. The idea that someone might be calling on her mom this late at night made her wince.

The doorbell rang again.

Grudgingly, she set her almost empty bowl on the coffee table, stood up and crossed to the door. She looked through the window. “Captain Becker?” she said aloud, although he probably couldn’t hear her through the door. She opened it, letting him in.

“Buffy, you look beautiful.”

She looked down at herself. She wore a tank top, sweatpants, and fuzzy pink slippers. Her hair was in a messy pony tail and there might be ice cream on her face. She surreptitiously wiped at her mouth and responded, “What are you doing here? Is something wrong?”

“No, nothing’s wrong. I’ve just been thinking about you all day. All week, actually. You’re so beautiful, so strong, I need you, Buffy.”

“Look, Captain, I’m flattered and everything, but I have a boyfriend.”

“You deserve better.”

 _I_ do _deserve better_ , she thought to herself. After the argument she’d had with Riley before he took off, she wasn’t entirely sure if she did still have a boyfriend. _And Becker is really cute_. She looked up at him through her eyelashes, her practiced _I’m cute but I could kick your ass_ look on her face. “I guess you can come in for a little while, but don’t get your hopes up.”

Becker stepped forward, wrapped his hand behind her neck, and kissed her. She didn’t pull away, but it took a few heartbeats before she kissed him back. He didn’t seem to notice. His free hand roamed over her back, her shoulders, her ass. _Oh, screw it_ , she thought, pulling away slightly. “My bedroom’s upstairs.”

Becker scooped her into his arms. She smiled up at him. She gestured to her bedroom. He had barely placed her on the bed before he was removing her clothes.

“Slow down there, cowboy.”

“I need you, Buffy.”

When she was naked, he stripped off his shirt, but only pulled down his pants and boxers, too eager to be inside of her. He was forceful, but not rough. He pinned her to the bed while she allowed her hands to explore the contours of his muscular chest. She could feel her climax building and tried to hold it back, wanting this to last so much longer.

The doorbell rang.

She ignored it, digging her fingernails into his back so hard they drew blood. If he noticed, he didn’t show it. He was speeding up his rhythm, trembling as he drew closer to the edge.

The doorbell rang again, followed by insistent knocking.

She gave herself over to her orgasm, her whole body shuddering in ecstasy. Becker came at the same moment, grunting and biting at her shoulder.

The doorbell rang again and again accompanied ever more persistent knocking.

“Buffy!” Angel and Cordelia called in unison from outside the front door, but Buffy couldn’t hear them over her moans.

“I think he’s already inside,” Angel said.

“Ew!” cried Cordelia. 

“I mean inside the house,” Angel clarified, annoyed.

“Oh. Right. Well, I’m calling Giles, then.” She pulled out her phone and dialed Giles’ number. He answered groggily.

“Giles? It’s Cordelia. Listen, I know it’s late, but there’s some kind of demon in town and we think it’s with Buffy. We need to get the Scoobies together ASAP.”

“What? With Buffy? Where are you?”

“We’re at Buffy’s mom’s house and no one is answering the door. Wait . . .” The door opened to show a very annoyed Buffy in a fluffy pink bathrobe. “I’ll call you back,” Cordelia said quickly, closing the phone and putting it in her purse without waiting for a response from Giles.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Buffy asked, glaring at Angel.

Cordelia answered. “I had a vision about you doing some soldier, only I think he’s just a demon dressed up as a soldier. We came here to warn you.”

Buffy said nothing.

“He’s here, isn’t he?” Angel asked. “Please tell me you didn’t . . .” he let his sentence go unfinished.

“So what if I did? It’s none of your business. And for the record, Cordelia, he’s not a demon; he’s British.”

“Buffy, he’s dangerous,” Angel said. He tried to step inside but was stopped by an invisible force field at the door. 

“You can’t just show up like this! I don’t need rescuing!”

“That would be more convincing if you didn’t sleep with demons!” Angel yelled.

“Well it takes one to know one!”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Cordelia stepped between the two of them, holding her arms out as if she could actually stop things if they got physical. “Guys, there’s a really easy way to figure this out! If soldier boy is still here, we can just go talk to him.”

Angel and Buffy continued to glare at each other. Buffy could see that Angel wasn’t going to let this go. “Fine. Come in, but once you talk to him, you leave.”

Angel and Cordelia practically ran past Buffy and up the stairs. The bedroom was empty. “Where is he?” Angel demanded.

Buffy checked the bathroom. “He’s not in here.” They split up, checking rooms until the whole house was searched.

“I don’t understand. Why would he sneak out the back door?” Buffy asked. The phone rang so she went into the kitchen to answer it. “Hello?”

“Buffy! Are you alright?” Giles asked.

“Sort of,” Buffy responded, noncommittally. 

“Are Cordelia and Angel with you?”

“Yes, but how did you-”

“Come to my house immediately.” Giles hung up the phone. 

Buffy felt very confused. “Giles wants us to meet at his house.”

“Let’s go then!” Cordelia squealed, eager to be out of this house. 

“Just let me change.” Buffy went upstairs to get dressed, while Angel stood guard outside her bedroom door. When she was dressed, they piled in his car and drove to Giles’.

***

The group gathered in Giles’ living room very early in the morning was surly and not altogether conscious. No one thought to introduce Cordelia and Angel, but then again, none of the dinosaur hunters thought to ask. It had been an exhausting day for everyone, especially Nick. After helping Jenny cordon off the beach he’d had to explain the whole mess to Lester (who was the only one not present at the meeting). He not only had to skip dinner with Willow, he skipped food completely. “What exactly are we doing here?” he asked, trying to ignore his empty stomach.

Angel responded, “There’s a demon in town. We think it’s already come into contact with some of you, um, sexually.”

“What?” several people chorused.

“It’s a shape-shifting demon that targets families and close-knit groups. It feeds off of them.”

“The Popobawa,” Spike muttered, almost inaudibly. Angel nodded.

“Wait,” Xander said, “feeds how?”

Spike cut in before Angel could answer. “It’s a sex demon that feeds off of orgasms. Usually it will shape shift into someone the victim would willingly shag, but it has been known to use force.”

“How do you know this?” Nick asked.

Angel and Spike exchanged an uncomfortable look. “We’ve, uh, dealt with this demon before,” Angel responded. If his blood still flowed through his veins, he would have blushed.

“No,” Nick said, pointedly ignoring the tension between the two vampires, “I mean, how do you know it’s here? I haven’t encountered any demon. What makes you think it’s coming here?”

“It’s here already,” Cordelia said, looking at Buffy. “I had a vision about Buffy and you,” she gestured to Becker, who frowned in confusion. “But we were too late to stop that one. I also saw a bunch of other people, you guys, but I didn’t know who you were. Are you from the Watcher’s Council or something? You don’t look Giles-y enough to be watchers. Seriously, when did the Scooby Gang double in size?”

“They’re here on other business. I’ll explain later,” Giles sighed. He’d forgotten how wearing Cordelia could be. “What concerns me is this vision. Buffy, you were with your mother today, correct?”

“No, actually. She went out of town.”

“So you were with Captain Becker?”

Becker interjected, “I was with Ms. Lewis until Professor Cutter called us. Then we headed to the beach. By the time we got everything squared away, it was after dark. The three of us headed to the hotel together.”

Giles frowned. “You weren’t with Jenny the whole time. Jenny was here.”

Spike whistled.

Jenny shifted uncomfortably in her seat and slowly shook her head. “I spent the afternoon with Becker at a café, and then we went directly to the beach.”

Giles massaged his temples. “Oh lord,” he whispered.

Angel spoke up, “So that’s Buffy and Giles, did anyone else have experiences today?”

Everyone seemed very interested in their shoes.

Cordelia perked up. “I have an idea! Let’s go around the room and say what you did today.” She looked to her right. “You, Blondie, why don’t you go first?” Cordelia’s pasted on smile didn’t falter as Abby glared at her.

“My name is Abby.”

“Fine. Abby, you go first.”

Abby looked around at the group. “I went to the beach with Connor, Xander, and Anya. When the Devonian fish attacked, I tried to help people. Then Anya, Xander, and I searched for Connor.” A look of confusion passed over Connor’s face, but he let Abby continue. “After we found Connor, we called Cutter. He told us to go home, so I went back to the hotel.” She cut off abruptly.

“Did anyone visit you at the hotel?” Angel asked gently.

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“Does it matter?”

“If we know who it is, we can ask him if he was with you or if it was the demon.”

“Her,” she mumbled.

Connor jerked his head up so fast that his fedora fell off. “Who her?”

Abby set her jaw and refused to meet anyone’s eyes. “Willow.”

Willow let out a peep and smiled. “Oh! That’s really flattering but it wasn’t me.” She glanced at Nick. “After you called us at the library, I went back to my dorm to study.”

Abby scowled at the floor, her cheeks burning.

“So you really, you and her, you actually, I wouldn’t have thought that . . .” Connor stammered, seemingly unable to keep his thoughts from falling out of his mouth.

“Well, what about you?” she snapped. “Your turn. Did you have an adventure after the beach?”

All of the color drained from Connor’s face. He struggled to put his hat back on his head, his hands visibly shaking. “Not after the beach.”

“At the beach then?” Abby demanded. “Just where were you when the dunkleosteus attacked?”

“I was with Xander,” he said in a quavering voice.

“With me? Oh god!” Xander yelped, appalled.

Anya was ready to kill. She leapt at Connor, but Buffy anticipated her and was suddenly between them, grasping Anya’s shoulders and holding her at arm’s length. She looked Anya in the eyes and repeated, “It wasn’t Xander, just a demon in Xander clothing,” until Anya calmed.

Connor, meanwhile, had tipped over his chair and crouched behind it. “I’m not gay! He forced himself on me! I didn’t even really enjoy it that much!”

“Oh god!” cried Xander.

Spike laughed hysterically.

It took several minutes, but eventually everyone calmed down enough to continue.

Nick looked at each of them, taking time to note everyone’s expression. When he was sure everyone was ready to listen he said, “Okay, let’s sort out what we know: Giles was with a demon who looked like Jenny; Connor was with demon-Xander (a muffled “oh god” came from behind Xander’s hands); Abby was with demon-Willow; and Buffy was with demon-Becker. Have I missed anything?” 

“Yes, actually,” said Giles, still struggling to maintain his composure, “you missed yourself. I saw you kiss Willow when I was preparing for a lie down. Which one of you is unaccounted for?”

All eyes were on Nick. He opened his mouth to speak but Willow interjected, “That wasn’t a demon, it was just us!” She paused, suddenly unsure, and looked to Nick. “Right, Nick? I know I was here, you were here, too?”

Nick nodded and took her hand. “No demon; just us.”

Spike, who had finally stopped laughing, grinned. “Well, well, well, the professor snogging a college girl! Looks like Little Red’s got some daddy issues.”

“Shut up, Spike!” Willow shot back. His chair moved back a few inches and he stopped laughing, although his face retained a bemused expression.

Nick frowned at the vampire, but smiled inwardly. _She is really something_.

Buffy cut in, “But you guys just kissed right? So we don’t even need . . . ” Willow blushed, the corners of her mouth involuntarily turned up. “Oh! Uh, okay. Way to go Willow, I guess.”

“Can I just say how upset I am that no one had sex with demon-Anya?” Anya said angrily. “I mean, come on! Is there something wrong with me? I am an attractive human female with perky breasts and feelings that are capable of being hurt!”

“Honey, calm down. You’re very attractive,” Xander assured her, draping an arm around her shoulders and taking her hand with his free one.

“Wow,” said Cordelia. “You are all sluts.”

Angel frowned at her.

Nick cleared his throat, once again trying to keep focus. No one seemed quite up to the task. The new guy ( _Angel, was it_?) looked broody. His friend with the visions rubbed her temples when she thought no one was watching her. Abby was angry, Connor looked like a kicked puppy, and Becker’s jaw was clenched so hard Nick worried he might damage something. Xander and Anya clung to each other. Buffy looked shaken, which was disconcerting. Giles’ head had been buried in his hands for quite some time now, and Jenny appeared frightened. Spike, on the other hand, was pretty upbeat, which somehow made everything worse. They needed to regroup. They needed sleep. Lester had big plans for their day, which Nick had neglected to tell the others. He didn’t have the heart now. “I don’t know about you guys, but I need some time to process this.” He paused. “I think the best thing to do would be to get some sleep for a few hours then meet back here and find a way to kill this thing.” There were quiet, noncommittal rumblings of agreement. “Okay then, everyone take some time to collect yourselves, and don’t have sex with anyone.” He frowned and thought, _never expected to say that_.


	6. Chapter 6

Dispersal had been difficult. No one really wanted to leave the safety of the group, but no one really wanted to be around each other either. It was all so awkward. Nick and Willow left first, arm in arm, and headed to his hotel room. Xander and Anya left next, bickering. When they realized Spike wasn’t following them they came back, but he insisted he’d rather find a crypt to hole up in rather than listening to them blather on. They didn’t argue. Buffy invited Angel and Cordielia to crash at her mom’s house for the morning. The others left gradually, heading to their hotel rooms, but Jenny lingered. 

“I was wondering if maybe I could stay here rather than going back to my hotel,” she said, haltingly.

Giles looked uncomfortable.

“I can just kip on the couch. You won’t even know I’m here.”

Giles hesitated, and then nodded. “Sorry, I just . . .” he let the thought trail off.

“It’s okay,” Jenny said too quickly. They looked away from each other. Giles headed upstairs while Jenny curled up on the couch, feeling very alone.

***

Spike was not surprised by the knocking on the door of his crypt. He sauntered over and swung the door inward. He leered at the visitor. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t my favorite demon. That’s an interesting look you’ve got on. Wouldn’t have been my first guess, but I won’t complain.” He stood aside and motioned the demon inside. 

Connor stepped past him, eyebrow arched. “How did you know I wasn’t Connor?”

“That twerp is a little too traumatized by the recent expansion of his sexuality to come looking for more anytime soon.” Spike circled him, looking him over. “Did you just come for small talk?”

Demon-Connor smiled. “Not at all.”

“Let’s get to it then.” Spike grabbed his shoulders, spun him around and bent him over the concrete tomb. He tugged at Connor’s jeans and swore. “Did you really have to replicate all the fucking layers?”

He finally managed to undo the belt and yank the layers of fabric down, exposing his pale, skinny arse. Spike grunted his approval. He un-tucked his own shirt, undid his belt and zip, and slid his jeans and pants down to his ankles freeing his erect cock. He spit into his hands and rubbed the wetness along his shaft, then thrust into Connor with no further preamble. Demon-Connor tensed and yelled in pain, but Spike held his hips firmly. His thrusts were hard and fast. He relished the newfound knowledge that inflicting pain in this circumstance didn’t activate the chip in his head. _Interesting_.

As his rhythm became erratic his face grew ridges. He bit into Connor’s shoulders as he came, lapping up the coppery blood. He shuddered in ecstasy. As soon as he was done, he shoved himself away, pulled up his jeans and re-tucked his shirt. His unlatched belt was the only evidence that anything had occurred. Demon-Connor stood slowly, wincing at the tenderness. Blood trickled from between his cheeks and Spike had the sudden urge to lick it up. He felt his spent cock twitch.

The demon, seeming to read his mind, took a step away from him. He had gotten what he came for and clearly had no desire to continue. Without fixing his clothing, he smiled Connor’s crooked smile and said, “Thanks mate.” Then he vanished.

Spike shrugged at the empty crypt. His face shifted back to human and he sat on the floor, leaning his head against the tomb. He sat there for a long time, wondering if he should tell the others that he remembered the ritual to send this demon back to hell. He kind of liked having it around.

***

Becker decided to spend his few hours of respite doing push-ups. He tried not to think too much about what Buffy had done with his demonic lookalike. He liked Buffy. She was beautiful and maybe if he wasn’t on duty and maybe if he wasn’t so painfully shy around women . . . 

His thoughts were interrupted by pounding. He stood, stretched, and glanced down at himself wondering if he should put on a shirt but decided that whoever was knocking at this hour didn’t warrant the courtesy. He crossed to the door and checked to see that the chain was secure before he opened it. 

Nick Cutter appeared to be standing at the door, but Becker knew immediately that it wasn’t the real professor. There was something about the determined- almost mean- look in his eyes that gave it away. Becker squared his shoulders for a confrontation. “What do you want?”

“I think you know what I want.”

“I know you’re not Professor Cutter.”

“Well, aren’t you clever? Let me in and I’ll give you a reward.”

“Do you think I’m stupid?”

Demon-Nick shrugged and smiled leeringly.

“Fuck off.” Becker started to shut the door but the demon’s hand shot out hard enough to not only stop the door, but to splinter the wood around the chain. Becker didn’t allow the fear he felt to show on his face. Demonic Nick rammed his shoulder into the door and the last of the frame gave way. Becker leapt for his gun and the demon lunged after him. They landed in a heap just inside the room. The door slammed back. They wrestled, Becker trying to reach his gun on top of the dresser, the demon trying to keep him from it. Becker realized in dismay that the demon was stronger than him as he found himself on his back with his hands pinned over his head. “You’re stronger than the real Cutter.”

“You’ve tried this with the real Cutter, then?”

Becker grimaced and struggled harder. If he could get his hands free he might be able to reach his bag. He tilted his head to judge the distance, but unfortunately the demon saw where he was looking. Demon-Nick positioned his knee firmly on Becker’s sternum and, while gripping Becker’s wrists in his right hand, grabbed the bag with his left and pulled it toward himself. He rummaged through it for a moment, and then pulled out a shiny pair of military handcuffs. Becker jerked hard, but he couldn’t get free. The demon cuffed his hands where they were and flipped him over in one fluid motion. The demon tugged Becker’s trousers down to his knees. Becker tried to move, but he couldn’t. Something seemed off about this. He struggled to think what it could be.

“Wait! I thought you needed _my_ orgasm, not your own.”

“Maybe I just like you, did you think of that?”

“This is an odd way to show affection.”

“Shut up.”

The demon shoved Becker’s face into the carpet. He undid his jeans and pulled his cock out. He slammed into Becker without benefit of lubrication. Becker cried out in pain. The demon thrusted again and again, blood mixing with semen. Becker continued to struggle even though it only made the pain worse. After what felt like forever, Demon-Nick came hard, biting into Becker’s back. Becker winced but refused to cry out again. 

Suddenly, the demon was gone. Becker’s muscles relaxed involuntarily. He lay on the carpet, breathing heavily for several minutes. 

Finally, he slowly rose to his hands and knees and crawled over to his bag. He rummaged in the large pocket, then the smaller outer pockets, getting more and more frustrated. “Shit!” He threw the bag across the room and winced. He took a deep breath followed by another. He stood slowly and hobbled to the bathroom. He wet a washcloth in the sink with very hot water, placed it over his face and forced himself to calm down. When the cloth cooled, he rinsed it again with lukewarm water and ever so gently cleaned himself off. It was difficult to maneuver with the handcuffs; he mumbled a steady stream of curses. 

When he was as clean as he could get with the washcloth he pulled up his trousers. He walked over to the dresser, still a bit unsteady on his feet but better than he had been. He picked up his gun, checked that the safety was on and tucked it into his waistband. 

Now what?

 _I need to kill this bastard_ , he thought. _I can’t do it myself if he can just vanish. I need Cutter_. He fought the urge to shudder, but failed. _It wasn’t Cutter. I know it wasn’t Cutter. It was a creature that looked like Cutter, but it wasn’t Cutter. He’s in the hotel and he’ll know what to do. He can help me find it, and then I can kill it_.

He willed himself to leave the room. Once in the hallway he didn’t look back to see how badly damaged his door was. He walked to Nick’s room three doors down and, before he could lose his nerve, raised his cuffed fists and pounded on the door. Cutter opened it almost immediately with no chain. Becker wanted to laugh at how trusting he was being, after warning everyone else to be suspicious. He pushed past Nick without waiting to be invited in. “We need to kill this thing. Now.”

Nick was taken aback. He looked Becker up and down, lingering on the handcuffs and the gun, and then said, “What happened?”

“It doesn’t matter. It was here. He took the keys.” He held out his wrists. 

Willow came out of the bathroom and froze when she saw Becker. Nick didn’t take his eyes off of the soldier but said to Willow, “It’s really him, not the demon. He was attacked.”

Willow rushed to Becker. “Oh my god! Are you okay?”

Becker nodded toward his wrists. “Demon took the keys.”

“Oh, well I can fix that.”

Willow took his wrists gently in one hand, pointed a finger at the lock, and a small thread of magic wove into the cuffs. They unlatched with a click and dropped to the floor with a metallic clatter. Becker rubbed his wrists. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” she smiled. 

Nick frowned. “We need to get everyone together now. This can’t wait any longer. Becker, who was the demon disguised as?”

Becker debated whether or not to answer, ultimately deciding that it would do no good to keep it to himself. He drew in a breath, exhaled, and said in an even voice, “You.”

***

“Okay, we’ll see you there.” Nick Cutter set the receiver down and turned to the small group gathered in his hotel room, which was comprised of Connor, Abby, Becker, and Willow. “Giles has everyone else with him. They’re going to meet us at the Hellmouth.”

“Why there?” Abby asked.

Nick sighed inwardly. He should’ve told the others what Lester wanted earlier, but he hadn’t wanted to add to their stress. He should’ve known it wasn’t going to get easier. Oh well, nothing to be done about it now. “Lester wants to meet us there. He wants us to find a way to cordon off the anomaly.”

“How exactly does he expect us to do that?” Connor asked, aghast.  
“I don’t know. Lester’s not one to listen to logic. All of these attacks are just more paperwork for him.”

“Killing the demon should be our first priority,” Becker said.

Nick raised an eyebrow. He hadn’t known Becker for long, but he knew it wasn’t like him to question orders from Lester. He wondered for the hundredth time what his demon double had done to the soldier. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know. Looking Becker in the eyes he said, “There are enough of us that we can do both. Giles thinks he found a way to kill the demon. After we hear what Lester has to say, we’ll divide duties. I’m not going to let that demon hurt anyone else.”

Becker stared hard at Nick, and then nodded once. Nick nodded in response. He had a lot of respect for Becker. He wasn’t sure he would be as calm in his place. “Let’s go. We’ve got a lot of work to do.”

With that, they left for the school library.

***

Lester waited impatiently for them at the entrance to the school, his arms crossed over his chest, his foot tapping. He hadn’t actually been waiting long, but much like his impeccable pinstriped suit, his behavior was designed to intimidate others. He should’ve known that his team wouldn’t be able to carry out a simple mission without his direction. Still, was he supposed to turn down dinners with the mayor and the governor just to keep these scientists on task? He rather thought not. 

He saw Connor approaching first, that ridiculous fedora bobbed and turned with the erratic gait of its wearer. Connor flitted from person to person, gesticulating wildly. The others looked to be taking him seriously; Professor Cutter especially nodded and smiled. Was he holding that teenage girl’s hand? Yes, yes he was. What was going on with him lately? First there was the nonsense about some disappearing woman named Claudia Brown, and then he claimed she was actually Jenny Lewis. He routinely disobeyed orders and failed to file paperwork. This sort of mental deficiency was starting to irk Lester; he just wasn’t sure what to do about it yet.

Everyone quieted as they approached Lester. They arrived in two separate groups, one following directly after the other. He waited a moment before speaking, letting them fidget nervously. When they looked sufficiently uncomfortable, he said, “We need to cordon off the anomaly site. We cannot allow any more of these attacks to occur.”

“Allow?” Buffy interjected. “Excuse me?”

Lester looked down his nose at her then went on as if she hadn’t spoken. “Connor, can you devise some sort of electric fence or cage to cover the entrance to the anomaly? Professor Cutter tells me it’s actually in a crevasse in the floor.”

Connor thought for a moment. “You mean like a force field? Sure, I can figure out how to do that. I’ll need some help on the construction end, though. Xander?”

“Sure, buddy. I can do that.”  
Lester thought Xander looked especially uncomfortable but he paid no regard. Connor sat down on the sidewalk, pulled his computer out of his bag and typed furiously. Willow leaned over his shoulder. “The fastest way would just be to copy a preexisting design. Just hack into the city plans . . . no, just type . . . here, I’ll do it.” She squatted down, reached across, typed a few swift words, and gave a satisfied squeal as the screen displayed the city electrical plans. The two studied them for a moment, mumbled back and forth, then closed the laptop and stood up.

“We can do it,” Connor said proudly. “We need to get some supplies.”

“Well, let’s go then!” Xander exclaimed. 

“I’ll come help,” Abby stepped forward. 

“Be quick about it,” Lester frowned. 

The four of them started off to the hardware store. Everyone else headed inside to the library. 

***

Connor, Willow, Abby, and Xander returned to find a rather odd scene. A large circle and some indecipherable symbols had been drawn on the floor in what appeared to be blood. Giles read from an ancient book while Angel methodically dropped unknown ingredients into a small wooden bowl. Connor tried to make out what he was chanting, but it seemed to be in another language. Nick crossed to meet them in the doorway. “It’s Sumarian,” he said.

Connor looked at him, confused.

“He’s speaking in Sumarian. I don’t know what he’s saying or what any of it means, though. Did you get what you needed?”

Connor nodded, obviously distracted.

“So they’re summoning the demon here?” Willow asked. “Did they find a way to kill it or are they trusting the usual plan?”

Now it was Nick’s turn to look confused. Xander put a hand on his shoulder and explained, “Wait for demon to appear, then stand back and watch Buffy kick its ass.”

“That Angel fellow seems to know what he’s doing. He and Spike got into an altercation. Apparently Spike should’ve known how to kill it but wasn’t saying anything.”

“Seriously? That’s typical Spike, I suppose but still, that’s mean,” Willow said, moving toward Nick and wrapping one arm around his waist and resting her other hand on his stomach. 

“Wait, Spike knew how to kill it and didn’t say anything?” Xander asked, scandalized. “I’m going to murder him. Slowly.”

Connor nodded, still looking a little lost. 

As they watched, Angel threw in a final handful with a flourish and a plume of smoke rose out of the bowl. Everyone watched expectantly, but nothing happened. Becker, who had been standing just outside the circle with his gun clenched in his hand, relaxed his grip slightly.

“What the hell?” yelled Cordelia.

“I don’t know,” Giles admitted. He and Angel bent to study their book. Nick turned back to Connor and Xander.

“So, you have what you need? We should really get started.”

“Right,” they responded in unison.

They brought in the equipment, recruiting Anya in the process. She seemed rather skeptical as she stared at the pile of metal poles, spools of wire, fencing, and car batteries. “What exactly are you planning on making with all this?” 

Connor and Willow grinned, overly eager to share their plan. They looked to each other, each nodding that the other could go first. Nick smiled, watching them. Connor could be annoying sometimes, but when he was caught up in an idea he would get so excited it was fun to watch. And Willow, well Willow was adorable all the time, and now she was beaming. Connor spoke first. “It’s simple, really, we’re just going to make a ring of these poles and attach the fencing around and over the top.”

“Then we’ll attach these wires to the batteries and the fence, so anything that tries to crawl out of the hole will get a nasty shock.”

“It was Willow’s idea, really, she hacked into the city electrical plans.”

“Well, yeah, but Connor saw how simple it would be to rig this together.”

They high-fived.

“You two did a good job,” Nick smiled.

“Yeah,” Anya said sarcastically, “you found a way to build an electric fence. Wow.”

Xander winced. “Anya, honey, we’ve talked about this. Social convention dictates we compliment our friends when they accomplish something.”

“Oh. Okay, well, good job you two.” She gave them each a friendly, if slightly sardonic, punch in the shoulder. They smiled at her, but the moment had clearly passed. They picked up their equipment and got to work constructing their barricade. 

***

It was nearly done, the frame completed with only the roof left to affix and the electricity to turn on, when yelling broke out across the room.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Buffy screamed.

“I’m evil! I don’t know why you keep forgetting that!” Spike yelled back.

“You let it attack me! You let us do the ritual knowing it wouldn’t work!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t trust a vampire!” Cordelia interjected. “I mean, except Angel, obviously, but Spike? What did you expect?”

“Calm down,” Giles said. “We know what to do now, let’s just do it.”

Lester, who had spent most of the afternoon on the phone with official sounding business, stormed over doing his best to look threatening. “What the bloody hell is going on over here?” he demanded.

“Spike here knew that we were missing an important ingredient of the summoning potion, but he neglected to tell us. We went through this whole ritual for nothing!” Buffy growled, glaring at Spike. 

Lester looked to Giles, who explained, “Apparently in addition to what we have, we need blood from everyone the demon came into contact with.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Cordelia mumbled. 

“Blood?” Lester questioned, ignoring Cordelia.

“Just a bit,” said Giles, “a few drops from everyone added to this concoction should make the demon appear.”

Lester sighed, as if all this was beneath him. “Well, just do that then.” He took out his phone and mumbled something indecipherable about Americans as he dialed, seeming to take no notice of the fact that Giles and Spike are British. Everyone watched him walk away in silence. 

“Yeah,” Spike said, “let’s just do it then.”

Angel raised his eyebrows but held his tongue. Spike pulled a switchblade out of his pocket and held it up. Buffy snatched it out of his hand. She flipped it open, sliced open her finger, and let a few drops fall into the bowl. She handed the knife to Giles, who did the same, then handed it to Becker. Becker holstered his gun, cut into his finger without flinching, handed the knife back to Giles, and took his gun back out. Giles gestured to the others to join them. They had unsuccessfully tried to look like they weren’t eavesdropping, but dropped the act when Giles waved to them and they gathered around. He summarized the situation and held out the knife. Abby reached for it, paused for a moment, then sliced her finger and added her blood to the mix. She offered the blade to Connor. He turned green and inched backward. Abby sighed dramatically. “Don’t be such a pussy, Connor.”

“I just don’t like blood, is all. Isn’t there another way?”

“No,” Giles, Angel, Buffy, Spike, and Cordelia chorused.

Connor gingerly took the knife and held out a trembling finger. He just could not bring himself to do it. Lester, who had been watching the scene while berating someone on the other end of the phone, strode over to Connor. He took the knife from him, held out his own hand, cut his finger over the bowl, and handed the knife back, challenging Connor to do the same without breaking his phone conversation. Connor poised the knife over his finger. If Lester thought he was being a coward, he must be really embarrassing himself, but . . . 

“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Spike grabbed the knife and cut Connor’s finger. Connor squealed and tried to jerk his hand away, but Spike gripped his wrist tight and squeezed a few drops of blood into the bowl. “There, you’re done.” He released Connor. “Sodding git.”

Connor frowned, but most of the menace was lost to the tears in his eyes. 

“Why isn’t anything happening?” Cordelia asked.

“We must be missing someone,” Angel responded. “Who else encountered the demon?”

Everyone stared around accusingly. 

“Alright, alright, here you go.” Spike cut his finger, closed the knife, and added a few drops to the bowl. He winked at Connor. “You were good, sweet cheeks.”

“Guys, look!” Cordelia pointed at the bowl which was boiling and emitting purple steam. 

They turned toward the circle as a shadowy figure materialized, growling. It was large, red, and ugly with curled horns on either side of its head. It laughed. Becker aimed his gun at the demon’s chest and fired. The demon continued laughing. Becker fired again and again, emptying his clip. It had no effect. “Just once I wish a gun would work,” Buffy said, just as she delivered a kick to the demon’s head. The demon stumbled backwards. At that moment, a pterosaur flew screeching out of the floor directly at the demon. Becker hurriedly reloaded his gun while Abby dove for the tranquilizer gun in her bag. 

Willow grabbed Connor by the elbow. “We have to get the force field on line!” They ran over and hastily attached the fencing to the top. Connor affixed the wires to the batteries but nothing happened.

“They’re dead!” he cried. “What do we do?”

Willow placed a hand on each battery, mumbled a spell, and electricity shot through her hands, into the batteries and through the fence. Astonished, Connor grinned and pumped his fist in the air. Willow threw her arms around him in excitement. 

Their elation was short lived as they turned to watch the fight raging on behind them. The pteranodon lunged at the demon, who growled and lunged at anyone who got close. Buffy chased the demon relentlessly, punching and kicking it, oblivious to the flying dinosaur. Both Abby and Becker struggled to get a clear shot at either creature to no avail. Buffy leapt and delivered a kick square to the demon’s jaw. It stumbled back several feet into the fence surrounding the anomaly. The structure collapsed, electrocuting the demon. The demon and the fence fell deep into the crevasse. There was a small electrical hum as the anomaly locked. Nick snatched Becker’s gun, aimed, and shot the pterosaur in the head. It crumpled to the floor.

“No!” Abby screamed. She rushed forward. “You killed it, Cutter!”

“I had to!” he yelled angrily. “A pteranodon in an enclosed space would’ve killed us all!” He thrust the gun back into Becker’s hands and stormed toward the door. He stopped partway and swung around. “You don’t even remember, do you? The last pteranodon? It nearly killed Claudia Brown! Not that it matters now, she’s gone, along with Stephen and Captain Ryan . . .” he trailed off, struggling to reign in his emotions. 

His friends stared at him, unsure of what to say. Willow stepped forward and embraced him. She whispered in his ear, “You did right.”

He nodded, kissed her temple, and stepped back, taking her hand. 

Connor stood near the anomaly, holding a pile of paperclips. “It’s closed,” he shrugged. “Not sure how. I can still see it glowing, but the magnetic field is gone.”

Lester walked back into the room, replacing his phone into his pocket. He glanced casually around the room, noting the fallen dinosaur, Becker re-holstering his gun, and Connor testing the anomaly. “Right, so everything’s sorted, then?”

No one answered.

“Good. Well, we have a plane to catch in the morning so get a good night’s rest. It’s back to work tomorrow.” He turned around and left. 

The rest looked around uncertainly, waiting for someone to take charge and give direction. No one stepped forward. 

After a moment, Jenny cleared her throat. She’d kept so well to the background that most of them had forgotten she was there. “We should get this mess cleaned up,” she gestured to the giant winged creature. “After, I suggest we do as Lester says and get a solid night of rest.” 

Xander, Buffy, and Becker gathered around the pterosaur, considering the best way to dispose of it. 

Angel crossed to Nick and sympathetically placed his arm around his shoulders. “It’s hard to carry on sometimes. Loss weighs like darkness on your soul. All you can do is fight for redemption and cling to the small moments of contentment.”

Nick frowned severely, shrugged Angel’s arm off him, and berated, “What the hell is wrong with you? Life isn’t some depressing soap opera. Of course it is hard to lose someone, but nothing is futile! Grow the hell up!”

Angel was taken aback, but before he could respond, Cordelia collapsed with a vision. He ran to her. “We need to get home right now,” she groaned. Angel nodded, helped her to her feet, and they left without another word to anyone. 

Willow turned to Nick. “Don’t you think you were a little hard on him?”

“I just can’t tolerate self-indulgence.”

She smiled gently. 

“I think we actually have time for that dinner now, if you like,” he smiled.

“I’d like that.” She took his arm and they slipped out the door.

Connor yelled after them, “So you’re just leaving us to clean up the mess, is that it?” He got no answer. “Who would’ve guessed it’d be the stodgy professor that got the most action on this trip, eh?”

Abby smiled gently and patted his arm. “Well, it was a safe bet that it wasn’t going to be you.”

One by one, they went their separate ways, intent on getting one night of fun in before it all ended tomorrow.


	7. Chapter 7

Nick awoke first the next morning and watched Willow sleep. She looked so beautiful and peaceful. He didn’t allow himself to think of leaving her in a few hours. She awoke slowly and smiled as her eyes focused on his face. She rose to a sitting position, letting the sheet fall away. They’d slept naked but she was unselfconscious. He leaned forward and kissed her, allowing his tongue to languidly explore her mouth. He traced his fingers across her clavicle and along her throat. She groaned and leaned into him as she twined her fingers through his hair. His hands moved to her breasts and he ran his thumbs over her nipples. She slid her hand down his chest, his stomach, and grasped the length of his erection. He moaned in pleasure and kissed her harder. She pulled back slightly and smiled at him. He cocked an eyebrow questioningly but allowed her to gently push him down on to his back. She admired him for a moment, tracing her fingertips lightly over his skin, watching it twitch. “You’re pretty ticklish,” she giggled.

He moved to grab her hands, but she was too fast for him. She scooted farther away from his hands and stopped by his knees. She massaged his thighs and gently separated them so she could lean between them. She planted soft kisses on his inner thighs, letting her hair dance across his hips. She shifted slightly, kissed along his pelvis getting achingly close to his penis but not quite touching it. Without warning, she swallowed him down to the base. He gasped at the intense wet heat. She moved and sucked, bringing him just to the edge then, when she felt he was close, she pulled away. 

“Hey, now,” he groaned and reached for her. 

She smiled wickedly. “I’m not nearly done with you yet.”

She kissed him, keeping her hips angled away from him to give him a moment to cool down. She pulled away again, this time climbing off the bed. Nick couldn’t see her, but he could hear her rummaging for something.

“What are you doing, hon?”

“I borrowed a scarf from Buffy a few weeks ago; I think I still have it in my-yes! Here it is!”

She climbed back in to bed holding a thin, soft silk scarf in her hand. He looked at it quizzically, but before he could frame his question she tied it gently but firmly around the base of his cock and the top of his sack. She checked to make sure it wasn’t too tight, and then climbed on top of him. He pulled her close as she writhed against him, angling so the knot of the tie rubbed against her clitoris. He kissed and bit her neck. When felt herself nearing climax she reached down and untied the scarf. They came together, all rhythm lost as they gave themselves over to pleasure. 

She lay wrapped in his arms for several long minutes before speaking. “I think I’m going to just tell Buffy that I lost her scarf.”

He laughed. “That is probably for the best.”

They fell into silence again, unwilling or perhaps just not wanting to discuss what must come next. Willow again broke the silence first. “We both knew this couldn’t last. It was fun for now . . .”

“I know. I just, well, you might have guessed I don’t have a terribly active love life. I’m just not ready for this to end.”

“Well, maybe it’s just the end for now. The watcher’s council is in England, maybe someday I’ll go crazy with magic and they’ll send me there for re-education.” She laughed at the ridiculousness of the idea.

“I can’t imagine you as anything less than perfect.”

They smiled and held each other until the clock told them it was time to leave. They each turned away from the other as they dressed. As the hotel door latched behind them they felt a palpable sense of ending, if not closure.

***

Meanwhile, Xander, Connor, Anya, Abby, and Becker had gathered at a local diner for breakfast. They ate and laughed like old friends without a care in the world. Surviving a crisis seems to have a way of making friends out of strangers.

“Are you guys coming with us to the airport?” Abby asked.

Xander and Anya nodded, but Buffy said, “I have class this afternoon and I haven’t really studied, like, at all.”

“What class?” Connor asked.

Buffy cracked up. “Paleontology. Willow convinced me to take it as an easy elective but it hasn’t really been that easy. Although I guess I don’t really need to study after this week!”

“I haven’t been to class in ages!” Connor said, catching Buffy’s laughter. “I think I’ve technically dropped out. I just got so busy with the ARC.”

“Maybe you should stay here and be a demon hunter instead.” Buffy was all-out giggling now.

Connor nodded. “I might have better luck with the ladies here.”

They were all howling now.

“You certainly couldn’t have _worse_ luck!” Becker joked.

Connor glared and threw a wadded-up napkin at his head. It missed by a considerable distance.

“I mean it, though,” Connor considered, more seriously now, “why not stay here? I’ve got nothing keeping me back home except the ARC, and who’s to say another anomaly won’t open here? I mean, I could enroll at UC Sunnydale and hunt demons at night,” he smiled at the thought, “and I’d be the first to know what was happening if another anomaly _did_ open up.”

Abby regarded him thoughtfully. “You can’t stay, Connor; you still haven’t paid this month’s rent. Besides, it wouldn’t be home without you.”

Connor arched his eyebrows. “You really mean it, Abby?”

“Yeah, course I do. I mean, I still don’t like finding your dirty boxer shorts all over the flat, but I’ve gotten used to it. Be weird if they weren’t there.”

“What is it with men leaving their underwear everywhere?” Anya asked. “I don’t understand. Is there something in the Y chromosome that makes them incapable of locating the hamper?”

Xander turned red and shared a look with Connor. The tension was broken, however, and the others laughed. The two men shrugged and laughed along with them. Too soon it was time to leave. They headed once more to Giles’, this time to say goodbye. 

***

Giles and Jenny had spent the morning together having a nice chat over tea. They had given up trying to make anything more out of their relationship, but at least they’d gotten past the awkwardness. They were laughing pleasantly when the doorbell rang. Lester arrived first, followed soon after by the group from the diner. Nick and Willow had taken their time walking hand in hand in amicable silence. They eventually reached Giles’, almost fifteen minutes late. Lester glared at them disapprovingly but said nothing, which was rather uncharacteristic of him. 

The entire Scooby gang went along to the airport despite Lester’s insistence that it was “terribly unnecessary.” After they’d all (well, all except Lester, of course) hugged goodbye, Lester gathered them around by clearing his throat several times. “I want everyone to understand that the events of this past week are highly classified. As a matter of international security you are never to speak of it to anyone. It would be best to forget that any of this ever happened.” He looked to Buffy. “That goes for what occurred at the hotel, also.” He turned and walked toward the terminal, first class ticket in his hand.

Nine jaws dropped in unison.


End file.
